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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. march — the month
  7. field — farmland
  8. march — the month
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a list
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. board — to get on
  16. march — music
  17. board — a committee
  18. roll — a cake

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