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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. craft — boats
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. craft — a skill
  6. club — for dancing
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fall — to drop
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. game — a match
  11. tear — from crying
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fall — to drop
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. club — a group
  18. perch — the fish
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. club — for golf
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. fall — the season

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