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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. vault — a safe
  7. club — for golf
  8. craft — a skill
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. land — to come down
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. land — ground
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. club — a group
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. club — for dancing
  21. craft — boats
  22. bear — the animal
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — moving air

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