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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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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: root · band · face · swing · wound · cold · arm · racket

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. swing — music
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wound — an injury
  6. root — the cause
  7. face — to confront
  8. band — a music group
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — an illness
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. band — a ring
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. swing — to play on
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wound — an injury
  22. swing — in golf
  23. root — of a plant
  24. face — part of the head

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