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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: pop · mine · fall · pitch · spring · degree · lean · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pop — soda
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. spring — the season
  8. pitch — completely
  9. mine — for digging
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. lean — to bend
  15. pop — to visit
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pop — music
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fall — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fall — to drop

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