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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lie · court · perch · band · cold · land · charge · stem

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. court — of law
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. land — a country
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. land — to come down
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. charge — in control
  10. band — a ring
  11. cold — not warm
  12. land — ground
  13. lie — to recline
  14. charge — electricity
  15. band — a music group
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — the fish

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