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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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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: last · chair · stem · chest · bark · content · ruler · capital

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. chair — a leader
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. capital — money
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. capital — a city
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. last — final
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — happy
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bark — to shout
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. content — the amount
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. chest — a box
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. chest — of your body
  22. last — finally
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. last — to go on

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