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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: row · plane · rule · race · leaves · fan · fall · content

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. content — happy
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rule — government
  5. content — the amount
  6. race — humankind
  7. rule — a law
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. row — a line
  10. race — a contest
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. fall — the season
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fall — to drop
  22. race — the arms race
  23. row — to paddle
  24. plane — a tool

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