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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 · rush · drill · deal · pitcher · wind · last · root

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. last — final
  5. wind — moving air
  6. root — of a word
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. rush — hurry
  12. last — finally
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. drill — a practice
  17. last — to go on
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. root — of a plant
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wind — moving air
  23. root — the cause
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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