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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: kid · file · root · toast · mine · capital · trunk · lie

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. lie — to recline
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. file — a document
  11. root — of a word
  12. mine — for digging
  13. toast — bread
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. root — of a plant
  20. capital — a city
  21. root — the cause
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. file — a line of people
  24. capital — a big letter

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