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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.

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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 · lean · bat · pop · race · rush · wind · key

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. race — humankind
  3. key — for a lock
  4. race — a contest
  5. pop — soda
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. key — the most important part
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. key — in music
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. lean — to bend
  12. pop — to visit
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pop — music
  19. race — the arms race
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rush — hurry
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. lean — thin

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