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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. clip — to cut
  3. root — the cause
  4. capital — money
  5. mine — for digging
  6. charge — a price
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ball — a dance
  10. rush — hurry
  11. charge — electricity
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. ball — a great time
  15. clip — for paper
  16. root — of a word
  17. capital — a city
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. clip — a video
  20. charge — in control
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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