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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 120 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: mine · capital · plane · spell · last · trunk · court · root

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. court — of law
  3. capital — a city
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — a short time
  8. root — the cause
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. last — final
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. spell — letters
  14. plane — a tool
  15. root — of a word
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. last — to go on
  18. mine — for digging
  19. court — of a king
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. capital — money
  22. last — finally
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. court — for 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