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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: content · tear · band · fork · bat · charge · club · stem

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. band — a ring
  2. charge — a price
  3. band — a music group
  4. club — a group
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — the animal
  8. club — for golf
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fork — in a road
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. charge — electricity
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. club — for dancing
  16. content — the amount
  17. charge — in control
  18. content — happy
  19. stem — to come from
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bat — for baseball
  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