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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: kid · drill · board · spring · file · calf · band · mine

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. file — a line of people
  3. drill — army training
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. band — a ring
  7. drill — the tool
  8. file — a document
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. kid — child
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. board — a committee
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. file — a tool
  17. kid — to tease
  18. spring — of water
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. board — to get on
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. drill — a practice

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