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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. drill — army training
  3. band — a ring
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. drill — a practice
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. drill — the tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. chest — a box
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. band — a music group
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. file — a document
  19. bass — the fish
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bass — low music
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. chest — of your body

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