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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: hand · fan · cabinet · present · mouse · bat · land · stand

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. land — a country
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. present — a gift
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. present — the time now
  13. stand — to bear
  14. land — to come down
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. hand — help
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. land — ground
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. fan — to cool the air

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