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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: kid · season · spell · stem · band · branch · cap · jam

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. branch — a division
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. band — a music group
  6. season — in sport
  7. kid — to tease
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stem — to come from
  11. spell — a short time
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. band — a ring
  14. cap — a hat
  15. kid — child
  16. cap — of ice
  17. spell — magic
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spell — letters
  20. season — of the year
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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