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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: pitch · file · band · mug · cold · march · face · stand

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. march — the month
  3. stand — to bear
  4. face — to confront
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. march — music
  9. mug — to rob
  10. file — a line of people
  11. march — the month
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. mug — a cup
  18. file — a document
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mug — a face
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitch — completely
  24. stand — on your feet

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