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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: wound · mine · stand · hand · suit · game · band · deal

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. suit — clothes
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mine — for digging
  11. suit — in cards
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. hand — in cards
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. stand — to bear
  19. suit — to fit
  20. band — a music group
  21. hand — help
  22. game — wild animals
  23. deal — to handle
  24. game — a match

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