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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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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: tear · straw · spell · cap · rest · stem · cell · scale

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rest — what's left
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spell — a short time
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cap — a hat
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cap — a lid
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spell — magic
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. scale — in music
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cell — in biology
  24. stem — to come from

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