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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · net · board · band · arm · pitcher · ground · kid

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  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. ground — a position
  2. board — to get on
  3. kid — to tease
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. band — a ring
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. net — after costs
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. kid — child
  12. ground — the earth
  13. net — in sport
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ground — crushed
  17. board — a committee
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. band — a music group
  20. net — for catching
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  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