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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: stem · capital · branch · kid · club · object · net · rule

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a city
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — after costs
  7. object — to protest
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — a law
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rule — government
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. club — a group
  14. branch — a division
  15. kid — child
  16. stem — to come from
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. object — a thing
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. net — for catching
  21. capital — money
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. object — an aim

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