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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wind — moving air
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stand — to bear
  10. scale — in music
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. saw — the tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. foot — a measure
  16. spring — the season
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wind — moving air
  21. spring — of water
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. degree — temperature

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