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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cap · cold · plane · band · chair · stem · ball · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — of ice
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. ball — a great time
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. stem — to come from
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. net — for catching
  14. band — a ring
  15. net — in sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. cap — a lid
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chair — a leader

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