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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 116 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rash — hasty
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — an illness
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a partner
  18. cold — not warm
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. rash — a series
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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