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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. spring — of water
  4. face — to confront
  5. bank — for money
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bank — of a river
  8. face — to point toward
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bank — for money
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. face — part of the head
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spring — the season
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. clip — to cut

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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