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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 116 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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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 · bass · band · bay · root · cold · pitch · bat

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. root — of a word
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. drill — army training
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bat — the animal
  12. root — the cause
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. root — of a plant
  18. bass — the fish
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pitch — completely
  23. band — a music group
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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