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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. root — of a word
  3. capital — a city
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. capital — money
  7. degree — from a university
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. band — a ring
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bore — to drill
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. root — the cause
  18. stand — to bear
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a music group
  23. cold — an illness
  24. root — of a plant

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