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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: land · pop · mine · fan · hand · track · lie · fall

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — to recline
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pop — soda
  6. fall — the season
  7. track — to keep track
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pop — music
  11. track — a path
  12. pop — to visit
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. track — a song
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. fall — to drop
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. land — to come down
  24. fan — to cool the air

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