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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: fall · stock · rule · bulb · coach · stem · capital · cold

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. cold — not warm
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stock — shares
  9. stock — goods
  10. rule — government
  11. bulb — for light
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bulb — for light
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. capital — money
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. capital — a city
  22. rule — a law
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. coach — a trainer

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