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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: key · stem · last · band · track · field · current · cold

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. track — a path
  3. stem — to come from
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — a subject
  7. track — to keep track
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. last — to go on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. last — final
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. field — for sport
  14. key — in music
  15. current — electric
  16. last — finally
  17. track — a song
  18. key — for a lock
  19. band — a music group
  20. field — farmland
  21. current — of water
  22. band — a ring
  23. key — the most important part
  24. current — happening now

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