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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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Word bank
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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: drill · tear · spring · hand · date · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. 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. band — a music group
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — the fruit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spring — the season
  10. band — a ring
  11. hand — help
  12. drill — a practice
  13. spring — of water
  14. drill — army training
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. spring — a coil
  17. hand — in cards
  18. 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