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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · straw · fan · squash · wave · degree · trunk · wind

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. squash — to crush
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — the sport
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. degree — an amount
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. net — for catching
  24. fan — to cool the air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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