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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. drill — a practice
  5. squash — the sport
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bass — the fish
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. band — a music group
  10. drill — the tool
  11. foot — a measure
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. chest — a box
  15. squash — to crush
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. drill — army training

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