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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 116 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: present · spell · row · stem · net · capital · fall · snap

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — after costs
  4. capital — a city
  5. spell — magic
  6. capital — money
  7. present — the time now
  8. net — in sport
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. row — to paddle
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. fall — the season
  13. snap — to click
  14. spell — letters
  15. net — for catching
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. present — a gift
  19. row — a line
  20. present — there
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. spell — a short time

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