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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. plane — a tool
  3. kid — to tease
  4. land — to come down
  5. band — a music group
  6. land — ground
  7. swing — to play on
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — army training
  10. last — finally
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bass — the fish
  14. last — to go on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. kid — child
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bass — low music
  19. last — final
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. land — a country
  22. band — a ring
  23. swing — music
  24. plane — in geometry

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