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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: stem · last · drill · hand · content · ball · march · band

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. ball — a dance
  3. drill — a practice
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. march — the month
  7. content — happy
  8. last — final
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a great time
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. drill — army training
  14. march — the month
  15. stem — to come from
  16. drill — the tool
  17. hand — help
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. march — music
  21. content — the amount
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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