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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. rock — music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. band — a ring
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bass — low music
  8. drill — army training
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. rock — a stone
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bass — the fish
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. cold — an illness
  21. band — a music group
  22. content — happy
  23. drill — a practice
  24. coach — a trainer

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