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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 120 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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. band — a ring
  3. cell — in biology
  4. drill — the tool
  5. content — happy
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. staff — a stick
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rock — a stone
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — music
  12. drill — army training
  13. staff — employees
  14. shower — rain
  15. tear — to rip
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. tear — from crying
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — a phone
  21. tear — from crying
  22. drill — a practice
  23. content — the amount
  24. band — a music group

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