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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: pop · wound · net · cap · pitcher · band · snap · can

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. pop — to visit
  6. can — a tin
  7. net — after costs
  8. cap — a hat
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pop — music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cap — a lid
  14. band — a music group
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cap — of ice
  18. can — a tin
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. can — to be able to
  21. wound — an injury
  22. net — for catching
  23. pop — soda
  24. net — in sport

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