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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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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: stem · board · hand · cell · march · season · prune · mine

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. march — music
  7. prune — to trim
  8. board — to get on
  9. hand — in cards
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. march — the month
  13. stem — to come from
  14. prune — to trim
  15. season — of the year
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mine — for digging
  19. season — in sport
  20. hand — help
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. board — a committee

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