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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 · cap · net · band · bat · spring · lash · fan

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cap — a hat
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. spring — a coil
  7. net — for catching
  8. spring — of water
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cap — of ice
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bat — the animal
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. fall — the season
  18. net — after costs
  19. cap — a lid
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. band — a music group
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. net — in sport
  24. band — a ring

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