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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: spring · press · wound · drill · rule · vault · wind · bass

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. spring — of water
  3. wound — an injury
  4. press — a publisher
  5. spring — a coil
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rule — government
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — a safe
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. rule — a law
  17. bass — low music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. press — newspapers
  20. spring — the season
  21. bass — the fish
  22. press — to push
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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