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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 116 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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468
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: stem · ball · rest · band · wound · pop · capital · bat

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. pop — to visit
  10. band — a ring
  11. pop — soda
  12. ball — a dance
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — to come from
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rest — what's left
  18. band — a music group
  19. capital — a city
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wound — an injury
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. pop — music
  24. rest — a break

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