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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · cap · spring · sharp · mine · cell · stem · file

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cap — of ice
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spring — the season
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cap — a hat
  12. capital — money
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. spring — of water
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. spring — a coil
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cap — a lid
  19. capital — a city
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cell — in biology
  24. stem — of a plant

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