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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: capital · tear · rule · field · stem · spring · wax · kick

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. rule — government
  5. field — farmland
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. kick — in football
  12. field — a subject
  13. wax — to grow
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. spring — of water
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. field — for sport
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. rule — a law
  20. spring — the season
  21. stem — to come from
  22. capital — money
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rule — to rule out

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