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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: tear · fan · stand · squash · band · rule · field · march

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. stand — to bear
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — farmland
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tear — to rip
  10. march — the month
  11. field — a subject
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. rule — a law
  15. squash — the sport
  16. band — a ring
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rule — government
  21. squash — to crush
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. field — for sport
  24. march — 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