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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 · scale · temple · cell · wake · wind · ground · tube

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ground — a position
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ground — crushed
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. scale — in music
  16. tube — the underground
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cell — in biology
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — a container
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cell — in a prison

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