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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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Word bank
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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: face · file · prune · cold · stem · mug · row · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. prune — to trim
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. file — a document
  6. row — a line
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. band — a ring
  9. face — part of the head
  10. mug — a cup
  11. cold — not warm
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. mug — a face
  15. row — to paddle
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mug — to rob
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cold — an illness
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. prune — to trim
  24. face — to confront

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