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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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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: bank · band · sharp · fan · land · pound · track · cold

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pound — a weight
  3. track — a song
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bank — for money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. land — a country
  9. band — a music group
  10. track — a path
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bank — for money
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. land — ground
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. track — to keep track
  20. land — to come down
  21. bank — of a river
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cold — not warm

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