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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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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: cell · spring · wind · fine · last · tear · drill · wound

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fine — high quality
  6. spring — the season
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. drill — army training
  12. fine — all right
  13. drill — a practice
  14. tear — to rip
  15. last — finally
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spring — of water
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. last — to go on
  22. cell — a phone
  23. spring — a coil
  24. tear — from crying

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