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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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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 · rash · bark · roll · cap · date · scale · cold

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rash — a series
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cap — a hat
  8. scale — in music
  9. roll — a list
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. date — the fruit
  13. cap — of ice
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — a lid
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cold — not warm
  22. scale — size or range
  23. roll — a cake
  24. fan — a supporter

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