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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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. pass — a permit
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. face — part of the head
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. field — for sport
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cell — a phone
  24. face — to confront

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