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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. capital — money
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — a city
  4. root — the cause
  5. game — wild animals
  6. band — a music group
  7. plane — a tool
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. chest — a box
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. root — of a word
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. band — a ring
  18. rash — hasty
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. rash — a series
  22. game — a match
  23. chest — of your body
  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