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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: cold · temple · stem · fine · cap · land · spring · band

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. band — a ring
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. land — to come down
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. cap — a hat
  12. band — a music group
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spring — the season
  15. stem — to come from
  16. fine — high quality
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. land — a country
  22. land — ground
  23. fine — all right
  24. cold — not warm

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