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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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 — a practice
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. key — the most important part
  7. band — a ring
  8. key — in music
  9. chest — a box
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. craft — a skill
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. craft — boats
  14. last — to go on
  15. swing — music
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. drill — the tool
  18. swing — to play on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. key — for a lock
  21. swing — in golf
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. chest — of your body
  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