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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. press — to push
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — money
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. spell — magic
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rock — a stone
  10. spell — a short time
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. press — newspapers
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. branch — a division
  17. wind — moving air
  18. press — a publisher
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rock — music
  21. capital — a city
  22. spell — letters
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. prune — to trim

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