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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: fan · bat · leaves · mine · firm · shower · key · net

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. firm — steady
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. net — for catching
  7. mine — for digging
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. net — after costs
  10. bat — the animal
  11. firm — decided
  12. key — the most important part
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. key — for a lock
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. firm — a company
  21. net — in sport
  22. shower — to wash
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. key — in music

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