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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: field · mine · root · kid · pitch · band · hand · wound

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitch — completely
  5. band — a ring
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — the cause
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kid — to tease
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. field — for sport
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hand — help
  18. kid — child
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. band — a music group
  22. hand — in cards
  23. field — a subject
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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