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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: land · ruler · saw · cap · band · file · kid · pop

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. cap — of ice
  5. saw — the tool
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. file — a tool
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. kid — child
  13. file — a line of people
  14. band — a ring
  15. saw — the tool
  16. file — a document
  17. kid — to tease
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cap — a hat
  20. land — ground
  21. band — a music group
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cap — a lid
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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