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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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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: race · mate · file · pop · kid · capital · chair · root

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. root — of a plant
  3. mate — a partner
  4. capital — a city
  5. file — a document
  6. pop — soda
  7. file — a line of people
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. file — a tool
  10. race — a contest
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pop — to visit
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — to breed
  15. race — humankind
  16. pop — music
  17. kid — child
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. root — of a word
  20. race — the arms race
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. root — the cause
  24. chair — a leader

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