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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. root — of a plant
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. ball — a dance
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. tube — a container
  10. season — of the year
  11. tube — the underground
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. ball — a great time
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — in sport
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wound — an injury

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