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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. root — the cause
  3. capital — money
  4. bear — the animal
  5. field — a subject
  6. bear — the animal
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spring — the season
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. root — of a word
  12. hand — help
  13. field — farmland
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. shower — to wash
  20. root — of a plant
  21. capital — a city
  22. shower — rain
  23. field — for sport
  24. coach — a trainer

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