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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: date · root · branch · squash · pop · clip · bat · capital

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  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. root — the cause
  2. pop — music
  3. capital — a city
  4. pop — soda
  5. squash — the sport
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. pop — to visit
  8. capital — money
  9. root — of a word
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. branch — a division
  15. squash — to crush
  16. clip — a video
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. clip — for paper
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. date — the fruit
  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