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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. pop — music
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. root — of a word
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. sharp — clever
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bulb — for light
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. spring — a coil
  13. capital — money
  14. spring — the season
  15. root — of a plant
  16. spring — of water
  17. bulb — for light
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. root — the cause
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pop — to visit
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. pop — soda

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