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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 116 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 · wax · pitcher · drill · hand · spring · wind · cabinet

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spring — of water
  4. hand — help
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. band — a music group
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. hand — in cards
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. drill — a practice
  15. spring — the season
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wax — to grow
  18. band — a ring
  19. drill — the tool
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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