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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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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: suit · rash · pit · stem · tear · clip · bass · band

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. suit — in cards
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bass — low music
  5. pit — in a race
  6. tear — from crying
  7. suit — clothes
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a music group
  12. bass — the fish
  13. band — a ring
  14. stem — to come from
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pit — a hole
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tear — to rip
  22. suit — to fit
  23. bass — the instrument
  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