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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 120 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 · net · swing · fall · stem · clip · land · track

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. track — a path
  3. net — after costs
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. net — for catching
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. net — in sport
  13. land — ground
  14. stem — to come from
  15. track — to keep track
  16. clip — for paper
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — to play on
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. track — a song
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. fall — to drop
  23. swing — in golf
  24. clip — a video

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