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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. root — the cause
  3. fall — to drop
  4. capital — a city
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. race — a contest
  7. row — a line
  8. dip — to sink
  9. root — of a plant
  10. race — humankind
  11. row — to paddle
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fall — to drop
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hand — in cards
  16. fall — the season
  17. capital — money
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — help
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. race — the arms race
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. patient — a sick person

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