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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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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: fan · content · row · march · wave · spring · rule · pit

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. row — a line
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. pit — a hole
  5. march — music
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rule — government
  8. row — to paddle
  9. march — the month
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. pit — in a race
  12. content — the amount
  13. spring — the season
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. march — the month
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. content — happy
  24. rule — a law

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