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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: fan · craft · bass · prune · spring · face · dip · drill

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spring — of water
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. face — to confront
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. craft — a skill
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. face — part of the head
  11. drill — a practice
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. face — to point toward
  14. craft — boats
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to sink
  21. drill — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. drill — army training
  24. bass — the fish

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