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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. field — farmland
  3. clip — to cut
  4. root — of a word
  5. land — to come down
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. kick — in football
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. root — of a plant
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. capital — money
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. field — a subject
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. field — for sport
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. pitch — completely
  24. capital — a city

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