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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: drill · race · file · date · mug · track · band · staff

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. race — humankind
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. staff — employees
  5. mug — to rob
  6. drill — the tool
  7. file — a document
  8. track — a path
  9. race — a contest
  10. file — a line of people
  11. race — the arms race
  12. track — a song
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. track — to keep track
  15. mug — a face
  16. drill — a practice
  17. band — a music group
  18. staff — employees
  19. mug — a cup
  20. date — the fruit
  21. band — a ring
  22. staff — a stick
  23. drill — army training
  24. file — a tool

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