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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 120 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 · file · rest · clip · can · hand · stem · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. clip — to cut
  3. hand — help
  4. file — a tool
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. can — a tin
  7. stem — to come from
  8. capital — money
  9. rest — what's left
  10. file — a line of people
  11. court — of a king
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rest — a break
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. hand — in cards
  17. capital — a city
  18. file — a document
  19. clip — a video
  20. court — for sport
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. can — to be able to
  23. can — a tin
  24. rest — what's left

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