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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: bear · bay · stem · drill · mark · bat · cold · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. drill — army training
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — a trace
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bear — the animal
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. band — a music group
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bear — the animal

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