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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. spell — letters
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. content — happy
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. pass — a permit
  9. spell — magic
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. stem — to come from
  14. pitch — completely
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rush — hurry
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. content — the amount
  19. spell — a short time
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. band — a music group
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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