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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · spell · root · capital · ball · tube · shower · stock

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. land — to come down
  4. shower — rain
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. spell — magic
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. land — ground
  10. root — the cause
  11. spell — a short time
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. shower — to wash
  15. stock — shares
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spell — letters
  18. root — of a word
  19. land — a country
  20. capital — a city
  21. root — of a plant
  22. ball — a great time
  23. capital — money
  24. ball — a round shape

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