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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 · spring · chest · tear · content · stand · last · current

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spring — the season
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. spring — of water
  6. tear — from crying
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — electric
  9. current — of water
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. tear — to rip
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tear — from crying
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — final
  17. chest — of your body
  18. last — finally
  19. spring — a coil
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. chest — a box
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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