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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: stem · rule · spell · cold · bank · pound · land · bat

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bank — for money
  4. land — a country
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pound — a weight
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. rule — a law
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bank — of a river
  11. land — to come down
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. spell — letters
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bank — for money
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rule — government
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. spell — magic

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