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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: chest · wind · current · fall · cabinet · kick · bass · fan

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. current — happening now
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fall — the season
  10. current — of water
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bass — the fish
  16. current — electric
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bass — low music

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