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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 116 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: land · stand · capital · file · kick · root · cold · pit

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. root — of a word
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pit — in a race
  5. file — a document
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. land — to come down
  8. kick — in football
  9. capital — a city
  10. file — a line of people
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. land — a country
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. stand — to bear
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cold — not warm
  19. root — the cause
  20. land — ground
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. file — a tool
  24. pit — a hole

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