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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: chair · mate · row · capital · pound · deal · nail · root

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mate — a partner
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. capital — money
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. mate — a friend
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. mate — to breed
  9. root — of a word
  10. capital — a city
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. chair — a leader
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — the cause
  20. row — a line
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. deal — to handle
  23. row — to paddle
  24. capital — a big letter

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