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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: land · track · hand · root · shower · capital · chip · pound

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. shower — rain
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. track — to keep track
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — for betting
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. root — of a word
  17. land — to come down
  18. root — the cause
  19. shower — to wash
  20. track — a path
  21. pound — a weight
  22. root — of a plant
  23. track — a song
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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