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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. date — the fruit
  3. chair — a leader
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. root — of a plant
  6. roll — a cake
  7. club — for golf
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cap — a hat
  10. club — for dancing
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. club — a group
  14. degree — temperature
  15. root — of a word
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. roll — a list
  19. cap — a lid
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — a city
  23. cap — of ice
  24. root — the cause

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