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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 · bass · drill · cabinet · trunk · hand · wound · date

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. bass — the fish
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. bass — low music
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. date — the fruit
  18. band — a ring
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. band — a music group
  23. hand — help
  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