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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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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 · suit · cell · band · kick · perch · cold · last

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. suit — to fit
  8. band — a music group
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. last — final
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. last — finally
  13. kick — in football
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. band — a ring
  16. suit — clothes
  17. last — to go on
  18. cell — a phone
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. cell — in biology
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. suit — in cards
  24. perch — the fish

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