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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 116 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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. last — to go on
  3. staff — employees
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. row — to paddle
  6. last — final
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. season — of the year
  11. root — of a word
  12. capital — a city
  13. mate — a friend
  14. last — finally
  15. capital — money
  16. staff — a stick
  17. track — a song
  18. staff — employees
  19. mate — to breed
  20. root — of a plant
  21. season — in sport
  22. track — to keep track
  23. mate — a partner
  24. root — the cause

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