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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: fine · can · race · march · shower · tube · fan · field

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. field — a subject
  3. can — to be able to
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. can — a tin
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. march — the month
  8. fine — all right
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. shower — to wash
  11. field — farmland
  12. march — the month
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. shower — rain
  15. tube — the underground
  16. fine — high quality
  17. tube — a container
  18. field — for sport
  19. race — humankind
  20. can — a tin
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. march — music
  24. tube — in a tire

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