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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. stem — to come from
  3. band — a ring
  4. stand — to bear
  5. march — the month
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. march — the month
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bat — the animal
  15. band — a music group
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. march — music
  18. kid — child
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. band — a rubber band

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