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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. band — a ring
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — for money
  5. key — in music
  6. wake — a trail
  7. root — of a word
  8. row — a line
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — to visit
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. clip — a video
  13. bank — of a river
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pop — music
  16. clip — for paper
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. key — the most important part
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. root — the cause
  22. band — a music group
  23. row — to paddle
  24. root — of a plant

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