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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mine — for digging
  3. ground — a position
  4. present — a gift
  5. ground — the earth
  6. root — of a plant
  7. present — the time now
  8. capital — a city
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. ground — crushed
  12. shower — to wash
  13. root — the cause
  14. shower — rain
  15. root — of a word
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. present — there

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