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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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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: deal · band · stand · capital · stock · pound · straw · field

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. pound — a weight
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. field — for sport
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a music group
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. stock — shares
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. deal — to handle
  22. capital — a city
  23. stand — to bear
  24. pound — to hit hard

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