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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: ball · plane · band · staff · cold · bore · march · swing

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bore — to drill
  8. band — a ring
  9. ball — a great time
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. staff — a stick
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bore — to tire
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a dance
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. staff — employees
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. staff — employees
  21. swing — music
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. swing — in golf

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