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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: tear · capital · drill · field · spring · rest

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. tear — from crying
  3. capital — a city
  4. spring — of water
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. drill — a practice
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. drill — the tool
  17. capital — money
  18. spring — the season

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