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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 120 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: band · charge · plane · rule · stem · ground · cold · chest

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chest — of your body
  3. charge — in control
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — government
  6. chest — a box
  7. band — a music group
  8. cold — an illness
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. charge — electricity
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chest — of your body
  13. plane — a tool
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. rule — a law
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. charge — a price
  20. ground — a position
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. ground — crushed
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a ring

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