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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: bear · ball · stem · sharp · pop · capital · rule · chest

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pop — soda
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a city
  6. bear — the animal
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. chest — a box
  11. ball — a dance
  12. stem — to come from
  13. chest — of your body
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rule — a law
  17. sharp — clever
  18. bear — the animal
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. capital — money
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — music

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