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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. band — a ring
  3. spell — letters
  4. scale — in music
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. band — a music group
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. drill — a practice
  9. scale — size or range
  10. file — a line of people
  11. land — to come down
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. spell — magic
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. spell — a short time
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. drill — the tool

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