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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: fan · game · rule · face · chest · plane · jam · fall

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fall — to drop
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. game — wild animals
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. fall — the season
  11. face — to point toward
  12. plane — a tool
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. game — a match
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chest — of your body
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. rule — a law
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. rule — government
  24. jam — in traffic

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