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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: staff · mine · band · clip · pitch · spell · face · root

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  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. staff — employees
  2. root — the cause
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. spell — letters
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. root — of a plant
  7. face — to confront
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. spell — magic
  12. face — to point toward
  13. clip — a video
  14. pitch — completely
  15. spell — a short time
  16. root — of a word
  17. staff — a stick
  18. face — part of the head
  19. band — a music group
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. band — a ring
  22. mine — for digging
  23. staff — employees
  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