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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 116 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: spring · rule · racket · capital · mate · patient · plane · stem

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. spring — the season
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rule — government
  8. mate — to breed
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. mate — a friend
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. spring — a coil
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. capital — a city
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spring — of water
  21. capital — money
  22. rule — a law
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — a tool

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