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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 124 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wind — moving air
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. capital — money
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. root — of a word
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wind — moving air
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. pop — soda
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. root — of a plant
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pop — music
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. root — the cause
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. capital — a city

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