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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. ground — crushed
  3. file — a tool
  4. kick — in football
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chest — of your body
  8. ground — a position
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rest — a break
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. file — a document
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. ground — the earth
  17. rash — a series
  18. rest — what's left
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rash — hasty
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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