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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · pound · content · root · wind · tear

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. root — the cause
  3. content — happy
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pound — a weight
  10. content — the amount
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wind — moving air
  13. root — of a plant
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. capital — money
  18. pound — to hit hard

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