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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: court · prune · can · stem · mate · band · bass · pitcher

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. mate — a partner
  4. can — a tin
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bass — the fish
  7. band — a ring
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. court — of law
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. mate — to breed
  12. stem — to come from
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. prune — to trim
  17. can — to be able to
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — low music
  21. court — of a king
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. court — for sport
  24. band — a music group

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