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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: season · roll · spring · face · field · wind · band · dip

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. season — of the year
  3. wind — moving air
  4. band — a ring
  5. field — for sport
  6. roll — a cake
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spring — of water
  10. roll — a list
  11. band — a music group
  12. wind — moving air
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. face — to confront
  15. spring — the season
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. face — part of the head
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. season — in sport
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. face — to point toward

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