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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: can · scale · clip · rash · calf · capital · stem · row

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. scale — size or range
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. can — to be able to
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. clip — a video
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. row — a line
  11. scale — in music
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stem — to come from
  18. rash — a series
  19. capital — a city
  20. row — to paddle
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. clip — for paper
  23. capital — money
  24. clip — to cut

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