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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: prune · stem · capital · bound · last · lie · cold · foot

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. last — final
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lie — to recline
  8. bound — obliged
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bound — certain
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a city
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bound — tied together
  21. last — finally
  22. prune — to trim
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. foot — a measure

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