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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: capital · root · patient · straw · season · trunk · staff · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. capital — a city
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. kid — to tease
  7. staff — a stick
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. root — of a plant
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. season — in sport
  12. staff — employees
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. staff — employees
  16. capital — money
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. root — the cause
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. season — of the year
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. root — of a word
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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