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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. stem — to come from
  4. band — a ring
  5. band — a music group
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. scale — in music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. chip — for betting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chip — in a computer

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