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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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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: tear · net · fall · fan · spring · cell · plane · pitch

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. net — in sport
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spring — the season
  12. net — after costs
  13. fall — the season
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. pitch — completely
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. net — for catching
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. tear — from crying
  23. plane — a tool
  24. cell — in biology

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