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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. stem — to come from
  3. season — in sport
  4. content — happy
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. band — a ring
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. club — for golf
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. club — for dancing
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. content — the amount
  13. season — of the year
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. band — a music group
  17. club — a group
  18. season — to add flavour

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