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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: capital · season · row · firm · cold · squash · tear · stem

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — to come from
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — money
  7. firm — steady
  8. row — to paddle
  9. season — of the year
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. firm — decided
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — an illness
  21. firm — a company
  22. tear — to rip
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. row — a line

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