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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. court — of a king
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — for paper
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. clip — a video
  12. branch — a division
  13. court — for sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — to paddle
  20. court — of law
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. row — a line

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