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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. tube — the underground
  3. root — of a word
  4. band — a ring
  5. last — final
  6. root — the cause
  7. fine — all right
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. ground — a position
  11. tube — a container
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. prune — to trim
  15. ground — crushed
  16. last — to go on
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. band — a music group
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bat — the animal
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. last — finally
  23. ground — the earth
  24. prune — to trim

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