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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: band · cap · wound · mine · squash · board · pop · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a lid
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. pop — to visit
  9. board — to get on
  10. wound — an injury
  11. board — a committee
  12. band — a music group
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. squash — the sport
  15. pop — soda
  16. cap — a hat
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. pop — music

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