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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: land · cell · bank · stem · season · band · saw · spell

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. cell — a phone
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. season — in sport
  11. saw — the tool
  12. spell — letters
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — magic
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — ground
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bank — for money
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. bank — of a river
  21. season — of the year
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bank — for money
  24. land — to come down

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