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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: band · fan · net · squash · mine · pass · content · cell

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  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 — to cool the air
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. cell — in biology
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cell — a phone
  9. content — the amount
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. band — a music group
  13. content — happy
  14. pass — a permit
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. band — a ring
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. net — after costs
  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