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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: wind · mine · roll · fan · cold · pass · firm · rule

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. rule — government
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rule — a law
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. firm — decided
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pass — a permit
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. firm — steady
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. firm — a company
  24. roll — a cake

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