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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: root · row · season · chair · land · cell · capital · calf

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. root — the cause
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cell — in biology
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. capital — money
  13. row — a line
  14. season — of the year
  15. land — ground
  16. capital — a city
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. root — of a word
  19. season — in sport
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. chair — a leader
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. root — of a plant

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