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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 · track · season · clip · capital · wax · root · shower

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. saw — the tool
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. root — the cause
  9. track — a song
  10. capital — a city
  11. track — to keep track
  12. shower — rain
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wax — to grow
  15. shower — to wash
  16. root — of a plant
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. track — a path
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. season — in sport

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