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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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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: stem · temple · straw · ground · file · wave · root · capital

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. file — a line of people
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. ground — the earth
  6. root — the cause
  7. file — a tool
  8. root — of a word
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. root — of a plant
  17. capital — a city
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. file — a document
  21. ground — a position
  22. capital — money
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wave — of the sea

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