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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: face · trunk · drill · mate · wind · last · band · toast

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. face — to point toward
  4. last — final
  5. mate — a partner
  6. band — a ring
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. face — to confront
  9. wind — moving air
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. toast — bread
  14. mate — to breed
  15. last — finally
  16. mate — a friend
  17. drill — the tool
  18. last — to go on
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. wind — moving air
  23. face — part of the head
  24. band — a music group

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