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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. key — for a lock
  4. root — of a plant
  5. root — the cause
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. squash — to crush
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. net — in sport
  12. field — for sport
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — in music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. capital — money
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — help
  21. net — for catching
  22. capital — a city
  23. root — of a word
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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