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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: band · lean · sharp · stick · fan · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lean — to bend
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. lean — thin
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cold — an illness
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. band — a ring
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. band — a music group

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