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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. cap — a lid
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — clever
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. key — for a lock
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. row — a line
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cap — of ice
  16. drill — a practice
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cap — a hat
  19. key — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. field — a subject
  22. drill — army training
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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