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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 120 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: foot · stem · band · rest · cold · mug · pop · bat

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mug — to rob
  7. foot — a measure
  8. pop — music
  9. mug — a face
  10. band — a music group
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. pop — soda
  17. stem — to come from
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. rest — what's left
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pop — to visit

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