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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 · wave · wind · drill · band · rule · mine · content

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. band — a ring
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. drill — the tool
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. drill — a practice
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. drill — army training
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. rule — a law
  16. mine — for digging
  17. content — the amount
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. rule — government
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mine — belonging to me

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