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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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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: nail · bowl · cold · temple · pit · land · band · stem

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. land — a country
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. band — a music group
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. land — to come down
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. land — ground
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. stem — to come from
  23. pit — in a race
  24. stem — a stem cell

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