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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. root — of a word
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. last — to go on
  5. capital — a city
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. root — of a plant
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. last — finally
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. last — final
  16. lean — thin
  17. capital — money
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. lean — to bend
  23. root — the cause
  24. perch — the fish

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