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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. land — a country
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. land — ground
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. spring — of water
  8. field — for sport
  9. spring — a coil
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. snap — to click
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. board — a committee
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. field — farmland
  19. board — to get on
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rush — hurry
  22. spring — the season
  23. land — to come down
  24. field — a subject

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