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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 116 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: lean · pit · fan · cold · kid · bank · straw · drill

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pit — a hole
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bank — of a river
  7. kid — child
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kid — to tease
  10. drill — a practice
  11. lean — to bend
  12. lean — thin
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bank — for money
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — the tool
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bank — for money
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. cold — not warm

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