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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: cold · hand · bank · rule · march · stand · game · pitcher

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. march — music
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. hand — in cards
  5. game — wild animals
  6. march — the month
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. bank — for money
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bank — for money
  12. stand — to bear
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bank — of a river
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. march — the month
  21. game — a match
  22. hand — help
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rule — government

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