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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: drill · last · fall · bass · hand · can · content · rash

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bass — low music
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bass — the fish
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. content — happy
  10. can — a tin
  11. drill — the tool
  12. fall — the season
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. can — to be able to
  17. last — finally
  18. content — the amount
  19. last — final
  20. rash — a series
  21. can — a tin
  22. drill — army training
  23. rash — hasty
  24. last — to go on

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