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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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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: cold · pitcher · net · fork · band · bound · lean · nail

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bound — certain
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bound — obliged
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. lean — thin
  12. cold — not warm
  13. net — for catching
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. fork — in a road
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. lean — to bend
  20. band — a ring
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bound — tied together
  24. cold — an illness

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