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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: toast · kick · wind · chair · bowl · bulb · cold · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. toast — bread
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. chair — a leader
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. kick — in football
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wind — moving air
  24. fan — a supporter

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