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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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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: jam · tear · stem · clip · arm · capital · scale · cue

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. cue — a signal
  4. capital — a city
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cue — a hint
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cue — for pool
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — to rip
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. capital — money
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. tear — from crying

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