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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 116 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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cell — in biology
  6. net — in sport
  7. ball — a great time
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — after costs
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. land — ground
  13. net — for catching
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. land — a country
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. land — to come down

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