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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. rest — a break
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. prune — to trim
  7. root — of a plant
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. mine — for digging
  10. root — the cause
  11. band — a ring
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. prune — to trim
  16. band — a music group
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. kid — child
  20. rest — what's left
  21. root — of a word
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. rest — what's left
  24. scale — size or range

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