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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 116 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: last · rash · band · straw · kid · degree · object · drill

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. band — a music group
  4. kid — child
  5. drill — the tool
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rash — a series
  10. degree — from a university
  11. last — final
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. last — finally
  17. object — a thing
  18. rash — hasty
  19. last — to go on
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. drill — a practice
  22. band — a ring
  23. straw — a straw man
  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