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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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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: snap · band · cap · court · cue · stem · pop · row

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — soda
  4. row — a line
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cap — a hat
  11. court — of a king
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cue — for pool
  14. court — of law
  15. cue — a hint
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. pop — to visit
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cue — a signal
  22. stem — to come from
  23. row — to paddle
  24. snap — to click

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