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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: land · chest · roll · bark · fall · key · track · fan

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fall — the season
  3. track — a song
  4. key — the most important part
  5. key — for a lock
  6. roll — a list
  7. chest — of your body
  8. roll — a cake
  9. land — ground
  10. chest — of your body
  11. land — a country
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bark — to shout
  15. track — to keep track
  16. key — in music
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. track — a path
  21. land — to come down
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. chest — a box

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