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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. band — a music group
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. stem — to come from
  5. spring — of water
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. saw — the tool
  11. march — the month
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. spring — a coil
  15. prune — to trim
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. saw — the tool
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — the season
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. march — music
  24. band — a ring

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