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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: rule · root · stem · capital · band · face · lash · bat

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. root — of a word
  3. root — the cause
  4. face — part of the head
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. face — to confront
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stem — to come from
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. band — a ring
  14. root — of a plant
  15. bat — the animal
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. face — to point toward
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — a law
  23. capital — money
  24. band — a music group

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