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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. court — for sport
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. court — of law
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. land — to come down
  8. bank — for money
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bank — of a river
  13. court — of a king
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bank — for money
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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