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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. march — the month
  4. band — a ring
  5. stock — shares
  6. drill — a practice
  7. band — a music group
  8. march — the month
  9. face — to confront
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. face — part of the head
  13. ground — the earth
  14. face — to point toward
  15. drill — army training
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. ground — crushed
  19. dip — to sink
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. march — music
  22. ground — a position
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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