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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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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: land · band · mug · can · field · stem · board · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. stem — to come from
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. mug — to rob
  7. can — a tin
  8. field — a subject
  9. can — a tin
  10. row — a line
  11. board — to get on
  12. land — ground
  13. can — to be able to
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. field — farmland
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. mug — a cup
  18. field — for sport
  19. mug — a face
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. board — a committee
  23. row — to paddle
  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