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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. fork — in a road
  3. capital — a city
  4. court — for sport
  5. present — a gift
  6. bat — the animal
  7. capital — money
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. root — the cause
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. present — the time now
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. present — there
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. root — of a plant
  24. fork — a garden tool

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