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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 116 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: fall · fan · rest · wake · spell · capital · mine · pop

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. rest — what's left
  3. pop — music
  4. spell — a short time
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pop — to visit
  7. capital — money
  8. spell — magic
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — letters
  11. pop — soda
  12. fall — the season
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wake — a trail
  16. rest — a break
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. fall — to drop
  19. capital — a city
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. rest — what's left
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mine — an explosive

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