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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: court · file · track · stick · drill · band · cold · mine

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. band — a ring
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. track — to keep track
  8. band — a music group
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. cold — an illness
  11. file — a document
  12. track — a song
  13. file — a tool
  14. track — a path
  15. court — for sport
  16. mine — for digging
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. court — of a king
  22. file — a line of people
  23. court — of law
  24. cold — not warm

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