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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. spring — the season
  3. last — to go on
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. root — of a plant
  6. kid — child
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. kid — to tease
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. spring — a coil
  11. snap — to click
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. row — a line
  15. last — final
  16. capital — a city
  17. last — finally
  18. spring — of water
  19. root — the cause
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. root — of a word
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. capital — money
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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