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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: band · prune · cell · fan · content · bank · mark · face

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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 music group
  2. face — part of the head
  3. band — a ring
  4. face — to point toward
  5. prune — to trim
  6. content — the amount
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mark — a grade
  9. mark — a trace
  10. face — to confront
  11. bank — for money
  12. content — happy
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bank — for money
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bank — of a river
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. content — videos and posts
  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