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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 120 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 · shower · mug · lean · wound · drill · craft · game

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. band — a music group
  4. game — a match
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — a face
  7. lean — to bend
  8. band — a ring
  9. shower — rain
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. drill — army training
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. lean — thin
  17. drill — the tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. game — wild animals
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — a practice
  23. mug — to rob
  24. wound — an injury

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