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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 124 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mine — for digging
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. kid — to tease
  11. board — a committee
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kid — child
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. board — to get on
  20. rock — a stone
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. rock — music
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cold — an illness

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