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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: net · fan · cold · capital · plane · leaves · band · last

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. net — for catching
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cold — an illness
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. net — after costs
  9. band — a music group
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. last — to go on
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. last — finally
  16. capital — money
  17. last — final
  18. plane — a tool
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. band — a ring
  23. capital — a city
  24. cold — not warm

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