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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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. band — a ring
  2. dip — to sink
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. saw — the tool
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. snap — to click
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. bore — to tire
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. saw — the tool
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bore — to drill
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. fork — in a road
  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