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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: season · content · trunk · fan · spring · kid · bass · drill

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. season — in sport
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. drill — a practice
  6. kid — child
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bass — low music
  11. spring — of water
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. bass — the fish
  14. drill — the tool
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. drill — army training
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. spring — the season
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. content — happy
  21. season — of the year
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. content — the amount
  24. spring — a coil

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