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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. scale — in music
  2. capital — a city
  3. root — of a plant
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. scale — size or range
  6. capital — money
  7. mug — a cup
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. root — of a word
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — temperature
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mug — a face
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mug — to rob
  19. degree — from a university
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cold — not warm
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. scale — for weighing
  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