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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: bass · temple · craft · field · hand · trunk · wave · drill

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. hand — help
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. drill — a practice
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. craft — boats
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. craft — a skill
  14. bass — the fish
  15. field — for sport
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. drill — army training
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. drill — the tool
  24. hand — in cards

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