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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. last — finally
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. shower — to wash
  6. tube — a container
  7. last — final
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. clip — a video
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. tube — the underground
  18. shower — rain
  19. lie — to recline
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — for paper
  22. last — to go on
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bat — the animal

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