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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. content — happy
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. root — of a plant
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — in golf
  7. mine — for digging
  8. roll — a list
  9. swing — music
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. roll — a cake
  12. root — the cause
  13. content — the amount
  14. band — a music group
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. root — of a word
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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