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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: ball · ground · march · band · wax · row · root · date

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. root — the cause
  3. march — music
  4. ball — a great time
  5. band — a music group
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. ground — crushed
  8. band — a ring
  9. date — the fruit
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wax — to grow
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — of a plant
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. march — the month
  17. row — to paddle
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. ball — a dance
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. march — the month
  24. ground — a position

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