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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: race · chest · bat · pop · season · stem · row · capital

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. row — a line
  3. capital — money
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. capital — a city
  9. race — a contest
  10. pop — music
  11. stem — to come from
  12. chest — a box
  13. bat — the animal
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. pop — soda
  16. chest — of your body
  17. race — the arms race
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. season — of the year
  21. row — to paddle
  22. pop — to visit
  23. season — in sport
  24. race — humankind

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