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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: fall · band · fan · hand · wave · cold · rule · calf

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. rule — government
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. cold — not warm
  11. band — a music group
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. fall — to drop
  19. rule — a law
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. band — a ring
  22. fall — the season
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. band — a rubber band

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