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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: saw · capital · land · game · wound · kick · kid · root

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. root — of a word
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kid — to tease
  6. capital — a city
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. land — a country
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. kick — in football
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — an injury
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. land — ground
  16. wound — an injury
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. root — of a plant
  20. kid — child
  21. game — a match
  22. saw — the tool
  23. land — to come down
  24. root — the cause

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