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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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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: fine · cold · plane · band · wind · bear · spring · fall

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — the season
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a ring
  14. plane — a tool
  15. fall — the season
  16. fine — all right
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. spring — of water
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. band — a music group
  21. bear — the animal
  22. wind — moving air
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. fall — to drop

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