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

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bear — the animal
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. content — the amount
  8. band — a ring
  9. roll — a list
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. roll — a cake
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. content — happy
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. wax — to grow
  20. row — a line
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. row — to paddle
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. bear — the animal

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