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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rest — what's left
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rest — what's left
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. wound — an injury
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. branch — a division
  21. game — a match
  22. row — a line
  23. deal — to handle
  24. rest — a break

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