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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: bat · stem · present · mark · band · trunk · cold · coach

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. band — a music group
  4. present — the time now
  5. mark — a trace
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — the animal
  8. present — there
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. stem — to come from
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. band — a ring
  22. mark — a grade
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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