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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. charge — a price
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. band — a ring
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. band — a music group
  11. charge — in control
  12. mark — a trace
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mark — a grade
  17. charge — electricity
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. row — a line
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bat — the animal
  24. row — a quarrel

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