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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — a city
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. root — of a plant
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a word
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. capital — money
  16. bat — the animal
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bat — for baseball

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