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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: stem · pit · capital · chair · squash · tube · bark · spring

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. squash — the sport
  4. spring — a coil
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. tube — a container
  8. spring — the season
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. squash — to crush
  12. capital — a city
  13. pit — a hole
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. pit — in a race
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bark — to shout
  20. spring — of water
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. tube — the underground
  23. capital — money
  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