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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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. hand — part of the body
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a ring
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a trace
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. mark — a grade
  10. hand — help
  11. tear — from crying
  12. track — a song
  13. tear — to rip
  14. drill — army training
  15. march — the month
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. tear — from crying
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. bark — to shout
  22. march — music
  23. band — a music group
  24. drill — a practice

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