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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: nail · date · face · pitcher · mine · craft · rash · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. face — to point toward
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. band — a music group
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. craft — boats
  9. rash — hasty
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. date — the fruit
  12. face — to confront
  13. craft — a skill
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. face — part of the head
  20. mine — for digging
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. pitcher — a jug

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