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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. staff — employees
  4. cold — not warm
  5. staff — a stick
  6. pop — to visit
  7. bat — the animal
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. hand — help
  12. wake — a trail
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. spell — magic
  16. pop — soda
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pop — music
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hand — in cards

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