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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: march · fall · perch · cell · wave · stem · capital · pass

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. stem — to come from
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cell — in biology
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — to drop
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. capital — money
  10. perch — the fish
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. march — music
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. capital — a city
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. march — the month
  23. pass — a permit
  24. perch — for a bird

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