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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: cell · chest · capital · degree · root · club · bear · game

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — a city
  4. bear — the animal
  5. club — for dancing
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. root — of a word
  8. capital — money
  9. cell — a phone
  10. degree — from a university
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a plant
  13. degree — temperature
  14. chest — of your body
  15. degree — an amount
  16. chest — a box
  17. game — wild animals
  18. club — for golf
  19. cell — in biology
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bear — the animal
  23. game — a match
  24. cell — in a prison

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