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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: field · stem · kid · cap · branch · capital · trunk · shower

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. shower — to wash
  4. branch — a division
  5. field — farmland
  6. cap — of ice
  7. capital — money
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cap — a lid
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. field — for sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stem — to come from
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. kid — child
  21. capital — a city
  22. cap — a hat
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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