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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 116 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — thin
  6. capital — money
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a signal
  9. lean — to bend
  10. cold — an illness
  11. root — of a word
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cue — a hint
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cold — not warm
  19. root — the cause
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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