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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. lean — thin
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chair — a leader
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. wound — an injury
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lean — to bend
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bark — to shout

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