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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: perch · band · hand · stem · root · swing · land · trunk

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. band — a ring
  4. stem — to come from
  5. hand — in cards
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. root — of a word
  9. hand — help
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. land — to come down
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — music
  15. land — ground
  16. band — a music group
  17. perch — the fish
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. root — of a plant
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. root — the cause
  23. swing — to play on
  24. land — a country

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