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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: can · fan · row · bulb · fall · face · band · clip

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. can — to be able to
  3. clip — to cut
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. can — a tin
  6. bulb — for light
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. can — a tin
  10. face — to point toward
  11. clip — a video
  12. band — a music group
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — a line
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. fall — the season
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. band — a ring
  21. fall — to drop
  22. face — part of the head
  23. clip — for paper
  24. face — to confront

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