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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: hand · march · straw · stem · capital · bowl · temple · cell

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. march — music
  3. cell — a phone
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. march — the month
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. hand — help
  16. stem — to come from
  17. march — the month
  18. hand — in cards
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cell — in biology
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cell — in a prison

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