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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 116 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: fall · cell · net · mark · band · spring · march · kid

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. cell — in biology
  3. band — a music group
  4. spring — a coil
  5. march — music
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. band — a ring
  8. net — in sport
  9. cell — a phone
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — to tease
  13. net — after costs
  14. spring — the season
  15. net — for catching
  16. fall — to drop
  17. spring — of water
  18. kid — child
  19. mark — a trace
  20. fall — the season
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. march — the month
  24. band — a rubber band

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