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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. drill — army training
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. capital — a city
  5. lean — thin
  6. cap — a hat
  7. spring — the season
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. root — of a plant
  10. scale — in music
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cap — a lid
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. lean — to bend
  16. root — of a word
  17. fork — in a road
  18. drill — the tool
  19. root — the cause
  20. spring — of water
  21. capital — money
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. drill — a practice
  24. scale — size or range

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