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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: fan · face · racket · chest · shower · stock · fine · rule

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fine — all right
  5. rule — a law
  6. face — part of the head
  7. shower — rain
  8. stock — shares
  9. shower — to wash
  10. chest — of your body
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — high quality
  15. face — to confront
  16. rule — government
  17. stock — goods
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. chest — a box
  21. face — to point toward
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. chest — of your body

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