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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. row — to paddle
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stock — goods
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — of a plant
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. track — a path
  14. track — to keep track
  15. root — the cause
  16. capital — a city
  17. track — a song
  18. prune — to trim
  19. capital — money
  20. stock — shares
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. row — a line
  23. rush — hurry
  24. calf — of the leg

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