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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. chest — of your body
  6. squash — the sport
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rule — a law
  9. march — music
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cell — in biology
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. chest — a box
  14. squash — to crush
  15. rule — government
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone

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