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

Word bank: root · ground · wind · kid · craft · capital

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. capital — a city
  3. kid — child
  4. ground — a position
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wind — moving air
  7. root — of a plant
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. craft — boats
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wind — moving air
  13. craft — a skill
  14. root — the cause
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. capital — money
  18. craft — a handicraft

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