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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. roll — a list
  4. kick — in football
  5. club — for golf
  6. file — a tool
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. club — a group
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bore — to drill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bore — to tire
  13. face — to point toward
  14. cell — in biology
  15. face — to confront
  16. club — for dancing
  17. face — part of the head
  18. band — a music group
  19. file — a document
  20. band — a ring
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. roll — a cake
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — a phone

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