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

Word bank: band · content · rule · current · field · cold · root · pound

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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. cold — not warm
  4. band — a ring
  5. content — the amount
  6. rule — a law
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rule — government
  10. current — happening now
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. current — of water
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a plant
  17. field — farmland
  18. band — a music group
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. current — electric
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. pound — a weight

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