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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. root — of a plant
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. root — of a word
  5. spring — of water
  6. key — the most important part
  7. chest — of your body
  8. key — for a lock
  9. capital — a city
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bass — the fish
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. key — in music
  14. capital — money
  15. spring — the season
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a music group
  18. bass — low music
  19. chest — a box
  20. root — the cause
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pass — a permit
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. band — a rubber band

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