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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: fall · bass · drill · field · fan · wound · lash · cabinet

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. bass — low music
  6. drill — a practice
  7. fall — to drop
  8. field — a subject
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fall — the season
  16. field — farmland
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. bass — the fish
  24. fan — to cool the 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