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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. game — a match
  3. court — for sport
  4. face — part of the head
  5. stem — to come from
  6. hand — in cards
  7. game — wild animals
  8. hand — help
  9. root — the cause
  10. capital — money
  11. court — of law
  12. face — to confront
  13. root — of a word
  14. face — to point toward
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. can — a tin
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. capital — a city
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. can — to be able to
  23. root — of a plant
  24. court — of a king

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