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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: band · ruler · drill · tear · march · chest · mug · foot

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. mug — a cup
  3. tear — to rip
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. mug — to rob
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. chest — of your body
  8. march — the month
  9. tear — from crying
  10. march — the month
  11. drill — the tool
  12. band — a ring
  13. mug — a face
  14. march — music
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. drill — army training
  17. tear — from crying
  18. drill — a practice
  19. band — a music group
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. foot — a measure

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