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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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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 · stick · ball · fall · wind · squash · race · spring

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  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 — to cool the air
  2. fall — the season
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ball — a great time
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wind — moving air
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. squash — to crush
  14. ball — a dance
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — humankind
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. squash — the sport
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ball — a round shape
  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