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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 120 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: rock · chest · pitcher · root · band · ground · cap · sharp

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. rock — music
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. ground — a position
  6. cap — of ice
  7. root — the cause
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cap — a hat
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cap — a lid
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. band — a ring
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. sharp — clever
  17. rock — a stone
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — of a word
  20. chest — a box
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. ground — the earth
  24. chest — of your body

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