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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. shower — rain
  6. spring — the season
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bear — the animal
  9. spring — of water
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. swing — in golf
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spring — a coil
  16. swing — to play on
  17. mate — a friend
  18. lie — to recline
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mate — to breed
  22. swing — music
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bear — 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