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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 124 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. band — a music group
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. sharp — clever
  6. march — the month
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. scale — in music
  11. stand — to bear
  12. kid — child
  13. scale — size or range
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. stem — to come from
  16. kid — to tease
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. march — music
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. band — a ring

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