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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. drill — army training
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. chair — a leader
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. drill — a practice
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — low music
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. degree — from a university
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. degree — temperature
  18. drill — the tool
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. band — a music group
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. degree — an amount

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