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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. root — of a plant
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. band — a ring
  8. root — the cause
  9. capital — money
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. kick — in football
  15. root — of a word
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. capital — a city
  18. stem — to come from
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. dip — to sink
  24. kick — with a leg

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