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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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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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. tube — the underground
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cap — of ice
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spell — magic
  9. last — to go on
  10. cap — a hat
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. spell — letters
  15. last — finally
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. band — a music group
  19. saw — the tool
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. last — final
  22. mine — for digging
  23. band — a ring
  24. tube — a container

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