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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: band · roll · land · wax · drill · rush · bat · row

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rush — hurry
  6. drill — a practice
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. drill — the tool
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wax — to grow
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. drill — army training
  13. land — a country
  14. band — a ring
  15. row — a line
  16. bat — the animal
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. land — ground
  22. band — a music group
  23. roll — a cake
  24. bat — in an idiom

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