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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 116 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: ruler · capital · mate · pop · rest · root · clip · snap

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all 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. ruler — a monarch
  2. mate — a partner
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. snap — to click
  5. mate — a friend
  6. root — of a plant
  7. clip — to cut
  8. pop — to visit
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pop — music
  12. mate — to breed
  13. clip — a video
  14. pop — soda
  15. rest — a break
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rest — what's left
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. root — the cause
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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