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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: pitcher · deal · prune · content · file · row · band · root

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. band — a music group
  3. file — a document
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. prune — to trim
  7. content — the amount
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. file — a tool
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — of a word
  14. file — a line of people
  15. row — a line
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. deal — to handle
  20. root — the cause
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — happy
  23. row — to paddle
  24. deal — a big deal

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