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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. capital — a city
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. root — of a word
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stem — to come from
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. roll — a cake
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. root — of a plant
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. root — the cause
  22. capital — money
  23. perch — the fish
  24. roll — a list

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