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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · stem · root · clip · can · face · band · swing

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. root — of a word
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. band — a ring
  6. clip — a video
  7. face — to confront
  8. swing — music
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. clip — to cut
  11. root — the cause
  12. swing — to play on
  13. root — of a plant
  14. swing — in golf
  15. stem — to come from
  16. can — a tin
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — to be able to
  21. bat — the animal
  22. face — to point toward
  23. band — a music group
  24. clip — for paper

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