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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
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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: rule · trunk · cold · land · roll · stem · nail · capital

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. land — a country
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. land — ground
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. rule — a law
  15. stem — to come from
  16. roll — a cake
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. capital — money
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. land — to come down
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. roll — a list

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