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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: toast · content · wax · wound · snap · drill · hand · band

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. drill — army training
  9. wound — an injury
  10. toast — bread
  11. content — happy
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. wax — to grow
  14. drill — the tool
  15. hand — in cards
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. content — the amount
  20. snap — to click
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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