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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 120 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rule — a law
  3. bear — the animal
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rule — government
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cap — a hat
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. race — a contest
  12. cap — of ice
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cap — a lid
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. chest — a box
  21. race — humankind
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chest — of your body

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