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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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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: race · cap · chest · content · rule · capital · stem · swing

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — a city
  8. content — happy
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stem — to come from
  11. rule — a law
  12. cap — a hat
  13. rule — government
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — money
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cap — a lid
  18. content — the amount
  19. cap — of ice
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. swing — to play on
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. swing — music

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