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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. root — of a word
  3. root — the cause
  4. spell — a short time
  5. club — for dancing
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. capital — money
  9. club — a group
  10. face — to confront
  11. court — of a king
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. face — part of the head
  14. root — of a plant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. capital — a city
  17. court — for sport
  18. land — a country
  19. land — to come down
  20. spell — magic
  21. court — of law
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. club — for golf
  24. spell — letters

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