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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. rest — what's left
  4. snap — to click
  5. rest — a break
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. field — a subject
  12. land — ground
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. land — a country
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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