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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: band · capital · squash · spring · current · drill · shower · tube

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. current — happening now
  4. squash — to crush
  5. spring — the season
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. current — of water
  8. drill — a practice
  9. spring — of water
  10. squash — the sport
  11. tube — the underground
  12. current — electric
  13. shower — rain
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. drill — the tool
  16. band — a music group
  17. shower — to wash
  18. band — a ring
  19. capital — money
  20. tube — a container
  21. spring — a coil
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  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