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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tube — a container
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. root — of a plant
  5. root — the cause
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wake — a trail
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. capital — money
  16. squash — the sport
  17. tube — the underground
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. root — of a word
  21. last — to go on
  22. capital — a city
  23. last — finally
  24. field — a subject

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