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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: spring · kick · mug · kid · last · capital · stem · scale

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. mug — a cup
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. mug — to rob
  6. kick — in football
  7. last — to go on
  8. spring — the season
  9. last — finally
  10. kid — to tease
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. last — final
  14. capital — money
  15. spring — of water
  16. kid — child
  17. scale — in music
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mug — a face
  20. spring — a coil
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. stem — to come from
  24. kick — a thrill

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