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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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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: chip · swing · capital · mate · tear · band · stem · shower

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. shower — rain
  6. chip — for betting
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mate — a partner
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — to wash
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. chip — to eat
  19. mate — a friend
  20. band — a ring
  21. swing — to play on
  22. capital — money
  23. tear — to rip
  24. band — a music group

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