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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: hand · net · lie · march · ground · fan · chair · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. march — music
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. ground — the earth
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. chair — a leader
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. hand — help
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. net — for catching
  15. ground — a position
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. march — the month
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — in cards
  23. lie — to recline
  24. wind — moving air

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