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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: band · dip · hand · pound · bay · field · file · cabinet

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. band — a ring
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. band — a music group
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. file — a document
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. file — a tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — help
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. field — a subject
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. field — for sport
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. file — a line of people
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. dip — to sink

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