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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. track — a path
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. track — to keep track
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. track — a song
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — in football
  19. field — farmland
  20. rule — government
  21. field — a subject
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bat — the animal
  24. saw — the tool

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