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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 · game · content · can · drill · kid · stem · wound

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. game — wild animals
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. kid — child
  6. drill — the tool
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — a tin
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — a practice
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stem — to come from
  17. content — happy
  18. can — to be able to
  19. game — a match
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. kid — to tease

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