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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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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: bay · mark · wind · firm · root · capital · last · club

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — finally
  3. capital — money
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. firm — a company
  6. capital — a city
  7. club — for golf
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. root — the cause
  12. firm — decided
  13. mark — a grade
  14. last — final
  15. root — of a word
  16. club — for dancing
  17. root — of a plant
  18. last — to go on
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. mark — a trace
  21. wind — moving air
  22. firm — steady
  23. club — a group
  24. bay — a horse colour

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