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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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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: lean · dip · bear · capital · kid · perch · land · stem

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. kid — child
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. capital — a city
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. dip — to sink
  9. kid — to tease
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. stem — to come from
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. perch — the fish
  17. capital — money
  18. bear — the animal
  19. land — a country
  20. bear — the animal
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. lean — thin
  24. stem — of a plant

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