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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cap — of ice
  4. bulb — for light
  5. date — the fruit
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cap — a lid
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a city
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bulb — for light
  16. cold — not warm
  17. root — the cause
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. root — of a plant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. drill — a practice
  24. date — on the calendar

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