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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · cabinet · tube · snap · bass · roll · drill · cold

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — an illness
  5. roll — a list
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. snap — to click
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. drill — the tool
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. tube — the underground
  13. drill — army training
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cold — not warm
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. bass — low music
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bass — the fish
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. roll — on a roll

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