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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: stem · wind · pit · hand · ground · stand · band · bass

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. band — a music group
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. pit — in a race
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stand — to bear
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. pit — a hole
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bass — the fish
  20. hand — help
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. ground — a position
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. wind — moving air

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