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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: straw · key · band · stand · bat · file · land · cap

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cap — a hat
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. land — ground
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. file — a line of people
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. band — a music group
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bat — the animal
  15. land — a country
  16. file — a document
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — of ice
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — in music
  21. stand — to bear
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. file — a tool

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