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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: bound · stem · wake · fan · squash · tube · capital · sharp

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. tube — the underground
  3. bound — tied together
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wake — a trail
  11. squash — to crush
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bound — certain
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. squash — the sport
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bound — obliged
  21. stem — to come from
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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