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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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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: wound · straw · face · drill · stick · band · court · kid

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. band — a music group
  4. court — of law
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. drill — the tool
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. face — to confront
  11. drill — a practice
  12. kid — child
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. court — for sport
  16. face — to point toward
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — of a king
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kid — to tease
  23. band — a ring
  24. drill — army training

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