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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: game · stem · prune · mark · content · jam · straw · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. mark — a grade
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. content — happy
  6. stem — to come from
  7. mark — a trace
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. game — wild animals
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. prune — to trim
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. content — the amount
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. prune — to trim
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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