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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. board — a committee
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. race — a contest
  8. stem — to come from
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. race — the arms race
  12. last — finally
  13. board — to get on
  14. last — final
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. root — of a word
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — the cause
  19. last — to go on
  20. mine — for digging
  21. race — humankind
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. band — a music group
  24. stem — of a plant

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