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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: last · band · fan · net · bound · spring · stem · squash

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bound — tied together
  3. net — after costs
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bound — certain
  7. stem — to come from
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. last — final
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bound — obliged
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. squash — to crush
  16. last — to go on
  17. net — for catching
  18. spring — the season
  19. squash — the sport
  20. last — finally
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. net — in sport
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. band — a ring

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