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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. land — ground
  3. root — of a word
  4. drill — army training
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a music group
  7. capital — a city
  8. land — a country
  9. drill — a practice
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — the cause
  12. spell — letters
  13. staff — employees
  14. spell — magic
  15. land — to come down
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. spell — a short time
  19. capital — money
  20. staff — employees
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. staff — a stick
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. drill — the tool

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