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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. court — of a king
  4. band — a music group
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. band — a ring
  9. mark — a grade
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. file — a tool
  12. court — of law
  13. roll — a list
  14. court — for sport
  15. mark — a trace
  16. root — the cause
  17. roll — a cake
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. root — of a plant
  20. file — a line of people
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. file — a document
  24. hide — to keep secret

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