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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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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: chair · clip · foot · stem · field · hide · face · capital

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  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. clip — for paper
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. capital — money
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. field — farmland
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. face — part of the head
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. field — a subject
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. face — to point toward
  15. chair — a leader
  16. foot — a measure
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. face — to confront
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. capital — a city
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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