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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: season · tear · race · band · fork · mouse · stem · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. band — a music group
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — for sport
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. season — of the year
  7. tear — to rip
  8. band — a ring
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fork — in a road
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. race — a contest
  14. stem — to come from
  15. season — in sport
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. court — of a king
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — humankind
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. mouse — for a computer

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