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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. scale — in music
  4. stem — to come from
  5. pit — a hole
  6. saw — the tool
  7. ground — the earth
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. saw — the tool
  15. pit — in a race
  16. cold — an illness
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. band — a music group
  19. ground — crushed
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. ground — a position
  24. scale — for weighing

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