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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: fan · suit · spring · bat · chair · fall · bass · clip

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. suit — to fit
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. spring — the season
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. fall — the season
  8. bat — the animal
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. spring — of water
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the fish
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. spring — a coil
  18. suit — in cards
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. clip — to cut

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