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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: band · club · cell · present · wind · mine · court · drill

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. wind — moving air
  3. band — a ring
  4. mine — for digging
  5. band — a music group
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — a group
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — for sport
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. court — of law
  15. drill — army training
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. present — a gift
  23. club — for dancing
  24. drill — the tool

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