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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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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 · race · hand · pitcher · stand · cap · squash · track

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. land — to come down
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cap — a lid
  6. track — to keep track
  7. land — a country
  8. track — a song
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. race — a contest
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. hand — help
  13. squash — to crush
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cap — a hat
  17. hand — in cards
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — the arms race
  20. stand — to bear
  21. land — ground
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cap — of ice
  24. track — a path

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