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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 120 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. row — a line
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. clip — to cut
  5. root — the cause
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pound — a weight
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. root — of a word
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. clip — a video
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — a hat
  24. row — to paddle

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