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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 124 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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. band — a ring
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wound — an injury
  5. firm — steady
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. band — a music group
  8. season — of the year
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kid — child
  11. firm — a company
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. shower — rain
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stem — to come from
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. firm — decided
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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