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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 ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. face — to point toward
  3. land — a country
  4. cap — a hat
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cap — a lid
  8. tube — the underground
  9. land — ground
  10. wound — an injury
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ground — crushed
  14. root — of a word
  15. ground — the earth
  16. tube — a container
  17. face — to confront
  18. land — to come down
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ground — a position
  21. cap — of ice
  22. degree — from a university
  23. root — the cause
  24. degree — temperature

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