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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. ground — the earth
  4. spell — letters
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. ball — a dance
  7. pop — music
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ground — crushed
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — a position
  12. degree — from a university
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. root — of a word
  16. ball — a great time
  17. degree — an amount
  18. capital — money
  19. root — the cause
  20. root — of a plant
  21. stem — to come from
  22. capital — a city
  23. pop — soda
  24. stem — a stem cell

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