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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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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: can · drill · patient · band · coach · hand · file · bat

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. drill — the tool
  3. file — a tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. can — to be able to
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bat — the animal
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. file — a document
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. band — a music group
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. band — a ring
  23. drill — a practice
  24. patient — a sick person

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