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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: lash · chair · tear · stock · cold · root · pitch · capital

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. root — of a plant
  5. root — the cause
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — money
  13. stock — goods
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — shares
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chair — a leader
  23. cold — an illness
  24. root — of a word

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