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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: fan · band · drill · file · coach · lean · snap · ball

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. band — a ring
  3. ball — a great time
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. band — a music group
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. drill — a practice
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. snap — to click
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. drill — the tool
  15. lean — thin
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. ball — a dance
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. drill — army training
  23. file — a document
  24. lean — to bend

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