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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 116 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. spring — of water
  3. degree — an amount
  4. band — a ring
  5. band — a music group
  6. degree — temperature
  7. spring — a coil
  8. degree — from a university
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — ground
  16. spring — the season
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the sport
  19. land — a country
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. land — to come down
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. drill — army training

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