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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: tear · net · ground · fan · drill · stick · tube · cold

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. drill — the tool
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. cold — an illness
  5. net — after costs
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. drill — a practice
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tear — to rip
  11. net — for catching
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ground — crushed
  16. drill — army training
  17. ground — the earth
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. net — in sport
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. ground — a position
  24. tube — a container

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