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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chest — of your body
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. chest — a box
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. band — a ring
  8. stem — to come from
  9. row — a line
  10. hand — help
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. ground — crushed
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. row — to paddle
  22. ground — the earth
  23. plane — a tool
  24. band — a music group

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