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

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fall — the season
  3. tube — the underground
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. tube — a container
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. roll — a cake
  16. cap — of ice
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cap — a hat
  21. plane — a tool
  22. cap — a lid
  23. roll — a list
  24. plane — in geometry

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