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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: root · capital · staff · drill · bat · tear · kick · club

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. drill — army training
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. staff — employees
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. drill — a practice
  10. root — of a word
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. root — the cause
  14. staff — a stick
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. root — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. staff — employees
  22. club — for dancing
  23. capital — money
  24. bat — in an idiom

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