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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. capital — money
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cap — of ice
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — the cause
  9. press — a publisher
  10. capital — a city
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rash — hasty
  17. root — of a word
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. press — to push
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. press — newspapers
  24. rash — a series

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