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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. game — a match
  3. root — of a word
  4. root — of a plant
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — a city
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. staff — employees
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. staff — employees
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bat — the animal
  16. staff — a stick
  17. tube — the underground
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. game — wild animals
  23. shower — rain
  24. root — the cause

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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