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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. band — a music group
  3. row — a line
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. current — happening now
  11. current — electric
  12. root — of a word
  13. wind — moving air
  14. root — of a plant
  15. squash — to crush
  16. row — to paddle
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. current — of water
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. squash — the sport
  24. root — the cause

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