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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · chest · band · leaves · fan · track · mouse · stand

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stand — to bear
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — a box
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. track — a path
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. track — a song
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. band — a ring
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. band — a music group

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