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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. tear — from crying
  3. lean — thin
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — the tool
  9. band — a ring
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — from a university
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — to bend
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a word
  17. degree — an amount
  18. drill — army training
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — temperature
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. band — a music group
  23. root — of a plant
  24. saw — the tool

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