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

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. drill — the tool
  3. band — a ring
  4. mug — to rob
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — an illness
  8. last — final
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mug — a face
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bulb — for light
  14. band — a music group
  15. degree — temperature
  16. mine — for digging
  17. drill — army training
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. last — finally
  20. drill — a practice
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bulb — for light
  23. mug — a cup
  24. last — to go on

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