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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  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. lean — to bend
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. root — of a word
  4. clip — a video
  5. chair — a leader
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. hand — help
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cue — a signal
  10. capital — money
  11. spring — the season
  12. capital — a city
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. root — the cause
  16. lean — thin
  17. spring — of water
  18. hand — in cards
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. spring — a coil
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cue — a hint
  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