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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. capital — a city
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. present — a gift
  7. root — of a plant
  8. present — there
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. root — of a word
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. root — the cause
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mine — for digging
  17. present — the time now
  18. prune — to trim

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