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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cap — a lid
  4. band — a ring
  5. march — music
  6. cap — a hat
  7. stem — to come from
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cap — of ice
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. band — a music group
  17. hand — help
  18. stem — of a plant

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