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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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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: wind · cold · squash · fall · firm · track · fan · straw

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fall — to drop
  3. squash — to crush
  4. track — a path
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. firm — steady
  8. fall — the season
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. track — to keep track
  13. firm — a company
  14. firm — decided
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wind — moving air
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wind — moving air
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. track — a song
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fall — to drop
  24. squash — the sport

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