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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: mate · fan · band · drill · press · rule · cold · firm

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. firm — decided
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — newspapers
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — an illness
  9. drill — army training
  10. rule — government
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. band — a ring
  15. mate — to breed
  16. firm — steady
  17. firm — a company
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mate — a partner
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mate — a friend
  22. rule — a law
  23. press — to push
  24. drill — the tool

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