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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bass — the fish
  5. mark — a grade
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. chest — of your body
  8. tear — to rip
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. rush — hurry
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bass — low music
  23. chest — a box
  24. fan — to cool the air

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