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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — an illness
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bank — of a river
  9. band — a ring
  10. bank — for money
  11. bank — for money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. stem — to come from
  18. fan — a supporter

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