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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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Word bank
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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: chest · bound · firm · prune · root · cold · capital · leaves

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. root — of a plant
  4. root — of a word
  5. firm — decided
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bound — obliged
  12. capital — a city
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. capital — money
  15. bound — tied together
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. firm — a company
  19. bound — certain
  20. chest — a box
  21. root — the cause
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. chest — of your body
  24. prune — to trim

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