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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: saw · rock · bass · drill · tear · wind · capital · spring

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a city
  5. rock — music
  6. spring — of water
  7. bass — the fish
  8. tear — to rip
  9. saw — the tool
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. capital — money
  14. bass — low music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. spring — the season
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wind — moving air
  21. drill — a practice
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rock — a stone
  24. spring — a coil

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