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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: land · fan · hand · wake · bulb · current · wind · court

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. land — a country
  4. court — of law
  5. current — happening now
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — ground
  10. current — electric
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. land — to come down
  16. bulb — for light
  17. hand — help
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. court — for sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. hand — in cards
  22. court — of a king
  23. current — of water
  24. wind — to turn a key

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