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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. row — a line
  3. staff — a stick
  4. capital — a city
  5. root — of a plant
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rest — what's left
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. rest — a break
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. root — of a word
  12. rest — what's left
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. dip — to sink
  16. row — to paddle
  17. root — the cause
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. capital — money
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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