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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
468
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: capital · root · cold · land · patient · mug · bear · pop

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bear — the animal
  3. pop — soda
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. root — of a plant
  6. land — ground
  7. capital — money
  8. pop — music
  9. mug — a cup
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. mug — to rob
  12. pop — to visit
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. root — of a word
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. land — to come down
  20. root — the cause
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cold — not warm
  24. land — a country

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