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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · capital · wind · content · staff · spring · stem · lie

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. net — after costs
  6. capital — money
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. spring — of water
  9. content — happy
  10. spring — the season
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. content — the amount
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — to come from
  19. capital — a city
  20. spring — a coil
  21. lie — to recline
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wind — moving air
  24. staff — employees

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