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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 · fork · wind · straw · wound · dip · ball · deal

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. deal — to handle
  7. ball — a great time
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. dip — to sink
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wind — moving 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