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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. race — a contest
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — for paper
  5. race — humankind
  6. band — a music group
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. root — of a plant
  9. clip — a video
  10. fall — to drop
  11. root — of a word
  12. cell — a phone
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. fall — the season
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. band — a ring
  21. stand — to bear
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. root — the cause
  24. fall — to drop

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