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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: mine · capital · land · stem · clip · season · mate · cap

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cap — a lid
  4. clip — a video
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. mate — a partner
  8. land — to come down
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mate — to breed
  12. capital — money
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. clip — to cut
  18. land — a country
  19. mine — for digging
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — in sport
  22. land — ground
  23. stem — to come from
  24. capital — a city

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