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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: spring · stem · pound · pit · band · march · bank · cold

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. march — the month
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pit — a hole
  5. spring — the season
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bank — for money
  10. spring — of water
  11. band — a music group
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bank — of a river
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. march — the month
  19. band — a ring
  20. stem — to come from
  21. bank — for money
  22. march — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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