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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. capital — a city
  5. game — wild animals
  6. root — the cause
  7. root — of a plant
  8. land — to come down
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. pop — music
  11. game — a match
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. root — of a word
  14. wax — to grow
  15. capital — money
  16. rest — a break
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. rest — what's left
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. rest — what's left
  23. pop — soda
  24. game — a kind of play

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