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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: spring · content · fan · bass · tube · drill · face · tear

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. face — to point toward
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. drill — army training
  5. tear — from crying
  6. content — happy
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tube — the underground
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. content — the amount
  12. tube — a container
  13. spring — the season
  14. drill — the tool
  15. face — to confront
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. spring — of water
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. drill — a practice
  24. tear — to rip

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