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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: stem · foot · shower · band · rock · bowl · saw · hand

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. band — a music group
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. band — a ring
  6. shower — to wash
  7. hand — in cards
  8. stem — to come from
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — help
  12. rock — a stone
  13. saw — the tool
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. foot — a measure
  20. rock — music
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. stem — of a plant
  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