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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. root — of a word
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. field — a subject
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. squash — the sport
  11. branch — a division
  12. root — of a plant
  13. field — farmland
  14. squash — to crush
  15. root — the cause
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. capital — money
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. field — for sport
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — the season

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