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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: capital · stem · bowl · spell · mine · perch · rule · season

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. season — of the year
  3. capital — a city
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. stem — to come from
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. rule — government
  15. mine — for digging
  16. spell — magic
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. capital — money
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. season — in sport

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