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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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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: stem · net · clip · arm · toast · capital · field · lash

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. clip — a video
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. toast — bread
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — money
  8. field — for sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. stem — to come from
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. net — in sport
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. field — a subject
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. field — farmland
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. net — for catching

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