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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 124 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. capital — money
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. root — of a word
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. track — a path
  8. track — a song
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. row — to paddle
  11. capital — a city
  12. dip — to sink
  13. root — the cause
  14. shower — to wash
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — rain
  17. wind — moving air
  18. root — of a plant
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. track — to keep track
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. march — music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. march — the month

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