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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: net · capital · hand · bark · stem · season · rock · foot

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. season — in sport
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. hand — in cards
  5. capital — money
  6. net — after costs
  7. capital — a city
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. foot — a measure
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. season — of the year
  19. rock — a stone
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. rock — music
  24. bark — to shout

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