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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. branch — a division
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. snap — to click
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. deal — to handle
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bear — the animal
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. cold — the Cold War

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