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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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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: fork · wind · snap · cap · band · drill · temple · straw

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. drill — army training
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. band — a ring
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. wind — moving air
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cap — a hat
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cap — of ice
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cap — a lid
  18. band — a music group
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. drill — the tool
  24. wind — moving air

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