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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: root · capital · pound · trunk · rush · pop · nail · march

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. capital — a city
  3. march — the month
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. root — the cause
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. capital — money
  11. march — music
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. pop — music
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. root — of a word
  17. pop — soda
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. march — the month
  22. pound — a weight
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. root — of a plant

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