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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. clip — for paper
  3. race — humankind
  4. root — the cause
  5. content — happy
  6. root — of a word
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. capital — a city
  9. spring — a coil
  10. race — the arms race
  11. spring — of water
  12. clip — to cut
  13. capital — money
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. spring — the season
  17. content — the amount
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. race — a contest
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. clip — a video
  24. capital — a big letter

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