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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: chip · march · tear · clip · root · staff · band · bat

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chip — to eat
  4. root — the cause
  5. band — a ring
  6. chip — for betting
  7. clip — for paper
  8. march — music
  9. staff — employees
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. march — the month
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. band — a music group
  18. march — the month
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. tear — to rip
  22. root — of a plant
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bat — in an idiom

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