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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. root — the cause
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. capital — money
  6. bark — to shout
  7. root — of a plant
  8. clip — a video
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — a city
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pitch — completely
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — of your body
  21. root — of a word
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — shares
  24. degree — an amount

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