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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. root — the cause
  3. capital — a city
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mate — a partner
  6. land — ground
  7. mate — to breed
  8. capital — money
  9. tear — from crying
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wax — to grow
  13. root — of a plant
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — an amount
  16. land — to come down
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. root — of a word
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. land — a country
  24. mate — a friend

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