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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · cap · hand · cold · march · ball · object · stand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cold — an illness
  3. ball — a great time
  4. band — a music group
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. band — a ring
  8. cap — a lid
  9. ball — a dance
  10. march — music
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. march — the month
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. march — the month
  16. object — a thing
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. object — to protest
  19. cold — not warm
  20. hand — in cards
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. object — an aim

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