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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. field — farmland
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. suit — to fit
  7. court — for sport
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. saw — the tool
  10. suit — in cards
  11. saw — the tool
  12. court — of a king
  13. field — a subject
  14. suit — clothes
  15. bear — the animal
  16. court — of law
  17. bear — the animal
  18. field — for 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