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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · stem · capital · cell · land · fan · content · bass

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cell — a phone
  3. stem — to come from
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — the fish
  7. land — ground
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bass — low music
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. land — to come down
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. capital — money
  16. content — happy
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. content — the amount
  21. land — a country
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. content — videos and posts

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