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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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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: trunk · capital · root · pitcher · cold · sharp · lean · foot

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. capital — money
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. capital — a city
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. root — of a plant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. root — the cause
  14. sharp — clever
  15. foot — a measure
  16. root — of a word
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lean — to bend
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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