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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: mine · wound · mark · bass · chair · fine · spring · stem

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fine — all right
  3. spring — the season
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. stem — to come from
  11. mark — a grade
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the fish
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. chair — a leader
  21. fine — high quality
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. mine — an explosive

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