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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. capital — a city
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. club — a group
  5. root — the cause
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. band — a music group
  8. root — of a word
  9. cell — in biology
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. root — of a plant
  12. club — for golf
  13. capital — money
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cell — a phone

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