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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. band — a music group
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stem — to come from
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. suit — to fit
  6. land — to come down
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. suit — in cards
  9. land — a country
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. spring — the season
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. rush — hurry
  14. spring — a coil
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. spring — of water
  17. cell — in biology
  18. suit — clothes
  19. cell — a phone
  20. band — a ring
  21. land — ground
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. sharp — clever
  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