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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: jam · key · pass · band · drill · cold · roll · march

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. band — a ring
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. roll — a list
  5. cold — an illness
  6. roll — a cake
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. key — for a lock
  9. pass — a permit
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. key — in music
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. key — the most important part
  15. band — a music group
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — the month
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — the tool
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. drill — army training

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