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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: stick · chair · file · cell · band · lash · wound · drill

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. chair — a leader
  9. file — a line of people
  10. band — a music group
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. file — a document
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. drill — army training
  16. file — a tool
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. drill — the tool
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. cell — in biology
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  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