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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: ground · stem · bank · capital · wound · kid · date · mine

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. mine — for digging
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. capital — money
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. ground — crushed
  8. capital — a city
  9. kid — child
  10. bank — of a river
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. date — the fruit
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kid — to tease
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bank — for money
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. wound — an injury

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