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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. kid — child
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. root — the cause
  7. perch — the fish
  8. root — of a word
  9. bound — tied together
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bound — obliged
  13. kid — to tease
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bound — certain
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. hand — help
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. capital — a city
  23. root — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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