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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.

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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: face · stem · row · capital · tear · stand · band · bank

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. band — a music group
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. capital — money
  7. face — to confront
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. band — a ring
  13. bank — for money
  14. row — a line
  15. tear — to rip
  16. face — part of the head
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bank — for money
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. face — to point toward
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bank — of a river

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