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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: tear · mouse · race · capital · kid · stem · mate · rash

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. capital — money
  3. stem — to come from
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rash — hasty
  7. mate — a friend
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. capital — a city
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mate — a partner
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. race — the arms race
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. race — a contest
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rash — a series
  21. race — humankind
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mouse — the animal

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