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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 116 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: court · mine · firm · stem · cabinet · race · band · bear

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. band — a music group
  3. firm — steady
  4. court — for sport
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. court — of law
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. firm — a company
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. race — a contest
  12. stem — to come from
  13. firm — decided
  14. mine — for digging
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. court — of a king
  18. race — the arms race
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. band — a ring
  23. bear — the animal
  24. race — humankind

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