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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. club — for dancing
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — a container
  8. club — for golf
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. root — of a word
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. capital — a city
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. press — to push
  15. capital — money
  16. root — of a plant
  17. club — a group
  18. tube — the underground
  19. cold — an illness
  20. press — newspapers
  21. root — the cause
  22. press — a publisher
  23. kick — in football
  24. cold — not warm

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