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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · mate · face · lean · bulb · spring · row · capital

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. mate — to breed
  3. capital — a city
  4. face — part of the head
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bulb — for light
  8. capital — money
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — the season
  13. lean — to bend
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. face — to point toward
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. mate — a partner
  20. face — to confront
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. bulb — for light
  24. row — a line

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com