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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: band · last · chest · leaves · sharp · drill · mug · cold

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. last — finally
  3. mug — a cup
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mug — a face
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. cold — not warm
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. band — a music group
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chest — a box
  18. last — to go on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. sharp — clever
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. last — final
  23. mug — to rob
  24. band — a ring

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