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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. rest — what's left
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. mate — a friend
  9. cap — of ice
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mate — a partner
  13. rest — a break
  14. hand — help
  15. rest — what's left
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cap — a lid
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. mate — to breed
  23. cap — a hat
  24. hand — in cards

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