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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · bank · fall · track · drill · straw · spell · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. track — a song
  5. bank — for money
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. track — a path
  12. bank — of a river
  13. cold — an illness
  14. drill — the tool
  15. track — to keep track
  16. spell — a short time
  17. bank — for money
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — letters
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. fall — the season
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. drill — army training

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