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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 · fine · pass · cold · trunk · plane · straw · kid

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. fine — high quality
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fine — all right
  20. kid — child
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. pass — a permit
  24. fine — a penalty

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