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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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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 · content · object · face · straw · drill · bay · toast

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. drill — the tool
  4. object — to protest
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. face — to confront
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. drill — a practice
  11. object — an aim
  12. drill — army training
  13. content — the amount
  14. face — to point toward
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. content — happy
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. toast — bread
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. band — a music group
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. object — a thing
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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