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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. snap — to click
  3. kid — child
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kid — to tease
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. swing — in golf
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. ground — a position
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. swing — music
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. swing — to play on
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. mate — to breed

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