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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 120 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: face · bat · root · land · rock · bear · wound · band

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. face — part of the head
  3. rock — music
  4. root — of a plant
  5. bear — the animal
  6. face — to point toward
  7. land — to come down
  8. face — to confront
  9. band — a ring
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wound — an injury
  12. band — a music group
  13. land — ground
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — the animal
  16. rock — a stone
  17. bear — the animal
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. root — the cause
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. root — of a word
  24. band — a rubber band

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