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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 120 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: capital · stick · can · wind · drill · cold · spring · craft

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. craft — a handicraft
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — boats
  5. capital — money
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. can — a tin
  12. capital — a city
  13. spring — a coil
  14. craft — a skill
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. wind — moving air
  17. can — to be able to
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. can — a tin
  23. drill — the tool
  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