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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: wave · pop · band · drill · land · fan · cold · face

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. pop — soda
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. drill — army training
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pop — to visit
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. band — a ring
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. face — to point toward
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. pop — music
  18. cold — not warm
  19. land — to come down
  20. face — to confront
  21. band — a music group
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wave — with your hand

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