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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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. current — of water
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. ground — crushed
  6. current — electric
  7. root — of a word
  8. stem — to come from
  9. capital — a city
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. root — the cause
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. capital — money
  14. current — happening now
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — the underground
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. root — of a plant
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. ground — the earth
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. ground — a position

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