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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cell — a phone
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fall — the season
  5. bat — the animal
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. spring — of water
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tube — the underground
  11. spring — the season
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tube — a container
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fall — to drop
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bear — the animal
  24. ruler — for measuring

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