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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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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: stand · band · plane · ruler · clip · pitch · capital · cold

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — not warm
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — a tool
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. band — a ring
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. clip — a video
  14. pitch — completely
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — to bear
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. band — a music group
  24. clip — for paper

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