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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 didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. craft — boats
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bat — the animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. craft — a skill
  10. pop — music
  11. band — a music group
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. root — the cause
  15. pop — soda
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. field — for sport
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. can — a tin
  20. pop — to visit
  21. can — to be able to
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. can — a tin

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