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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · drill · patient · scale · band · tear

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. scale — size or range
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. scale — in music
  6. drill — a practice
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a music group
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. drill — the tool
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. drill — army training
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. patient — a sick person

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