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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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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: squash · band · rash · drill · bore · bay · kid · mine

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. band — a music group
  5. squash — the sport
  6. kid — child
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rash — a series
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. drill — army training
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. mine — for digging
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. band — a ring
  24. drill — the tool

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