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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pit — a hole
  3. cap — of ice
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pit — in a race
  6. cap — a lid
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. drill — army training
  10. chest — of your body
  11. root — of a plant
  12. chest — a box
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tear — to rip
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mine — for digging
  18. tear — from crying
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. root — of a word
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. root — the cause
  24. cap — a hat

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