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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. squash — to crush
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. perch — the fish
  10. squash — the sport
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. field — farmland
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. field — a subject
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. band — a ring
  20. field — for sport
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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