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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. tear — to rip
  5. lean — to bend
  6. drill — a practice
  7. tear — from crying
  8. hand — in cards
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. tube — a container
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. lean — thin
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — a box
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — the tool
  19. chest — of your body
  20. band — a music group
  21. chest — of your body
  22. band — a ring
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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