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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: shower · spring · bass · field · craft · wake · swing · bore

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bass — low music
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bore — to drill
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. field — for sport
  11. swing — music
  12. bore — to tire
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bass — the fish
  15. wake — a trail
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. spring — the season
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. craft — a skill

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