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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — the time now
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cap — of ice
  6. spell — a short time
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spell — letters
  9. root — of a word
  10. capital — money
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. root — of a plant
  15. spell — magic
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. scale — in music
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bat — the animal
  20. scale — size or range
  21. root — the cause
  22. cap — a lid
  23. capital — a city
  24. bat — in an idiom

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