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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. stem — to come from
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. march — music
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. land — a country
  8. face — to point toward
  9. march — the month
  10. land — ground
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — in music
  13. march — the month
  14. face — to confront
  15. land — to come down
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. face — part of the head
  18. scale — size or range

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