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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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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 · mine · kid · mug · pit · last · band · stick

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mug — a face
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. mug — a cup
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pit — a hole
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. mug — to rob
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a ring
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. mine — for digging
  22. pit — in a race
  23. kid — child
  24. band — a rubber band

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