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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: chest · bound · rash · mark · pass · stem · land · march

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. bound — certain
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. march — music
  8. land — to come down
  9. rash — hasty
  10. mark — a grade
  11. march — the month
  12. rash — a series
  13. stem — to come from
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bound — obliged
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. land — ground
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. march — the month
  23. bound — tied together
  24. land — a country

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