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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tube — a container
  3. root — of a word
  4. race — a contest
  5. spring — the season
  6. present — there
  7. present — the time now
  8. toast — bread
  9. spring — a coil
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wax — to grow
  12. spring — of water
  13. race — the arms race
  14. tube — the underground
  15. present — a gift
  16. root — the cause
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. root — of a plant
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. race — humankind
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. capital — money

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