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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: board · wind · stem · march · cold · bank · net · coach

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. board — to get on
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — the month
  5. stem — to come from
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bank — for money
  8. board — a committee
  9. bank — for money
  10. net — in sport
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. net — for catching
  17. march — the month
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bank — of a river
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. net — after costs
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cold — not warm
  24. march — music

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