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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: capital · nail · foot · stem · bear · cold · tube · wind

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stem — to come from
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. tube — a container
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — a city
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — the animal
  12. tube — the underground
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. wind — moving air
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bear — the animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. foot — a measure

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