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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 120 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: spring · mine · capital · mouse · fall · stem · pitch · tear

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. spring — a coil
  3. tear — to rip
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stem — to come from
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. spring — of water
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitch — completely
  20. spring — the season
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fall — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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