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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. hand — help
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. net — in sport
  7. capital — a city
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. net — after costs
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. root — of a plant
  16. net — for catching
  17. root — the cause
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. hand — in cards
  20. firm — steady
  21. capital — money
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cold — not warm
  24. firm — decided

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