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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: tube · rest · mouse · fan · trunk · cold · row · rule

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. tube — a container
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. rule — government
  8. cold — an illness
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. tube — the underground
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cold — not warm
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rule — a law
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rest — a break

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