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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. scale — size or range
  4. race — the arms race
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. root — of a word
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. chest — a box
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. chest — of your body
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. root — of a plant
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chest — of your body
  19. race — a contest
  20. band — a music group
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. race — humankind
  23. root — the cause
  24. scale — in music

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