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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 120 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. 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. stem — to come from
  2. band — a ring
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. band — a music group
  5. bank — for money
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bass — the fish
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wake — a trail
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bank — for money
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. bank — of a river
  20. branch — a division
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. 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