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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 · bat · chest · roll · wax · band · root · toast

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. band — a music group
  3. chest — of your body
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. chest — of your body
  6. toast — bread
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. root — of a word
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. chest — a box
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. band — a ring
  17. staff — employees
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — the cause
  20. staff — employees
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bat — the animal
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. wax — to grow

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