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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. scale — size or range
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. scale — in music
  7. rest — a break
  8. row — a line
  9. chip — for betting
  10. file — a line of people
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. band — a music group
  14. chip — to eat
  15. rest — what's left
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. rest — what's left
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. row — to paddle

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