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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: leaves · game · roll · file · spring · fan · chest · rule

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. spring — the season
  3. roll — a list
  4. file — a line of people
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rule — government
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. spring — of water
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — a coil
  13. file — a tool
  14. game — wild animals
  15. rule — a law
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a cake
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. chest — of your body
  22. file — a document
  23. game — a match
  24. leaves — of a tree

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