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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. hand — help
  4. file — a line of people
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stand — to bear
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. band — a music group
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. hand — in cards
  20. band — a ring
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. file — a document

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