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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 120 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: wound · saw · capital · hide · file · stem · wake · kick

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. capital — a city
  5. wake — a trail
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. capital — money
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. stem — to come from
  18. kick — in football
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wound — an injury
  21. file — a tool
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. capital — a big letter

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