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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: last · season · wound · ground · capital · stem · band · calf

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. season — in sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. ground — the earth
  8. capital — a city
  9. ground — a position
  10. capital — money
  11. last — finally
  12. band — a music group
  13. ground — crushed
  14. last — final
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. last — to go on
  18. wound — an injury
  19. season — of the year
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a ring
  23. stem — to come from
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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