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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 124 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: bowl · cap · stem · fork · pass · mark · land · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. mark — a grade
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cap — a lid
  11. hand — in cards
  12. land — a country
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. pass — a permit
  18. cap — of ice
  19. mark — a trace
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. hand — part of the body

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