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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 · land · stem · mate · degree · bark · straw · pass

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. degree — from a university
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. capital — a city
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bark — to shout
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stem — to come from
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — a partner
  16. pass — a permit
  17. mate — a friend
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. mate — to breed
  22. capital — money
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pass — to succeed

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