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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. drill — the tool
  3. net — for catching
  4. root — of a plant
  5. spell — magic
  6. root — the cause
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. net — after costs
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. face — to point toward
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. net — in sport
  13. face — to confront
  14. band — a ring
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. drill — a practice
  17. capital — a city
  18. face — part of the head
  19. band — a music group
  20. spell — letters
  21. root — of a word
  22. capital — money
  23. drill — army training
  24. spell — a short time

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