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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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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: mate · bark · rest · band · face · cap · tear · stem

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. band — a music group
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. mate — a partner
  6. face — to confront
  7. mate — to breed
  8. cap — a lid
  9. rest — a break
  10. stem — to come from
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. tear — from crying
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cap — of ice
  18. band — a ring
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. face — to point toward
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mate — a friend
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — what's left

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