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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pitch — completely
  3. mate — a partner
  4. spell — letters
  5. root — of a plant
  6. spell — a short time
  7. root — the cause
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bore — to drill
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. mate — a friend
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. bore — to tire
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — an illness
  21. capital — a city
  22. spell — magic
  23. capital — money
  24. root — of a word

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