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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: drill · track · file · present · arm · game · band · pound

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. file — a tool
  3. game — wild animals
  4. present — the time now
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. drill — army training
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. drill — the tool
  10. track — a song
  11. drill — a practice
  12. present — a gift
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. track — to keep track
  15. file — a line of people
  16. game — a match
  17. pound — a weight
  18. band — a music group
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. track — a path
  22. file — a document
  23. present — there
  24. arm — part of the body

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