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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. spring — a coil
  5. toast — bread
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spring — the season
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. saw — the tool
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. spring — of water
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kick — in football

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