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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: bat · present · band · swing · stem · chip · land · fine

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. chip — for betting
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fine — high quality
  7. chip — to eat
  8. land — ground
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fine — all right
  11. present — the time now
  12. stem — to come from
  13. band — a music group
  14. present — there
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. swing — music
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. land — a country
  19. swing — to play on
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. swing — in golf
  24. present — a gift

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