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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: stem · capital · land · nail · sharp · swing · foot · ground

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. capital — a city
  2. stem — to come from
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. land — a country
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. ground — a position
  8. swing — music
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. capital — money
  14. land — to come down
  15. swing — to play on
  16. ground — the earth
  17. swing — in golf
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. ground — crushed
  20. land — ground
  21. foot — a measure
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. sharp — clever
  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