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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: bass · squash · scale · spring · bark · capital · bat · stem

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. scale — size or range
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. scale — in music
  12. bark — to shout
  13. squash — the sport
  14. spring — the season
  15. stem — to come from
  16. squash — to crush
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. capital — a city
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bass — low music
  23. spring — of water
  24. stem — a stem cell

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