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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: nail · club · row · pop · drill · bulb · chest · date

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. bulb — for light
  5. chest — of your body
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chest — of your body
  8. drill — a practice
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. chest — a box
  11. row — to paddle
  12. club — a group
  13. club — for dancing
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. pop — music
  16. row — a line
  17. pop — soda
  18. club — for golf
  19. date — the fruit
  20. pop — to visit
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. date — on the calendar

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