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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 120 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: rock · tear · band · chair · cold · drill · pound · object

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. object — to protest
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — a stone
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chair — a leader
  12. tear — from crying
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. band — a ring
  20. drill — army training
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. drill — a practice
  23. object — an aim
  24. pound — a weight

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