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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: fan · last · band · root · pitcher · mine · bat · scale

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. last — finally
  3. root — of a word
  4. scale — size or range
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. band — a ring
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. root — of a plant
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. scale — in music
  12. root — the cause
  13. band — a music group
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. last — final
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. last — to go on
  24. mine — for digging

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