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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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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. net — after costs
  3. staff — employees
  4. net — in sport
  5. pound — a weight
  6. capital — a city
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. capital — money
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. net — for catching
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. wake — a trail
  16. staff — employees
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wound — an injury
  21. staff — a stick
  22. root — of a word
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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