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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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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: chair · stem · swing · mine · file · root · cap · last

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. last — to go on
  3. root — of a plant
  4. last — final
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cap — a hat
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. file — a document
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. stem — to come from
  17. file — a tool
  18. cap — of ice
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. root — the cause
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cap — a lid
  24. last — finally

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