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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 124 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. row — to paddle
  3. root — of a word
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. capital — money
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — a city
  12. rule — a law
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a plant
  15. spring — of water
  16. chest — a box
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. rule — government
  24. cabinet — ministers

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