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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. capital — a city
  3. row — a line
  4. staff — employees
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. land — to come down
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chest — of your body
  10. tube — a container
  11. staff — employees
  12. root — of a plant
  13. row — to paddle
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a word
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tube — the underground
  23. chest — a box
  24. capital — money

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