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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. squash — the sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. branch — a division
  6. pop — music
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. press — a publisher
  12. root — of a word
  13. root — the cause
  14. capital — a city
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. pop — soda
  17. root — of a plant
  18. capital — money
  19. press — to push
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bat — the animal
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. press — newspapers
  24. squash — to crush

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