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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: cell · kid · tube · snap · land · bank · fan · spring

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bank — of a river
  4. kid — child
  5. spring — a coil
  6. land — to come down
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bank — for money
  9. tube — a container
  10. kid — to tease
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. spring — the season
  14. cell — in biology
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spring — of water
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. land — a country
  19. snap — to click
  20. bank — for money
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. tube — the underground

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