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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: rush · fan · mine · mark · clip · snap · leaves · cold

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mark — a grade
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. mark — a trace
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. snap — to click
  15. clip — a video
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. mine — for digging

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