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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bass — the fish
  5. file — a tool
  6. bass — low music
  7. shower — rain
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. ground — the earth
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a document
  15. ground — a position
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bass — the instrument

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