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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. last — finally
  3. court — of law
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. capital — money
  6. root — of a plant
  7. last — to go on
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — to be able to
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. pop — soda
  15. capital — a city
  16. root — the cause
  17. court — for sport
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. last — final
  20. pop — to visit
  21. perch — the fish
  22. court — of a king
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pop — music

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