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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: nail · fan · field · can · pitch · cold · rule · lean

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. field — a subject
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — an illness
  11. can — a tin
  12. pitch — completely
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. can — to be able to
  15. lean — thin
  16. rule — a law
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. lean — to bend
  19. rule — government
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. cold — not warm
  24. nail — for a hammer

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