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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. root — of a word
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. root — of a plant
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wind — moving air
  17. band — a ring
  18. rule — a law
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. root — the cause
  22. band — a music group
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. calf — a young animal

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