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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. wound — an injury
  3. object — an aim
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. sharp — clever
  6. foot — a measure
  7. object — a thing
  8. bat — the animal
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. drill — a practice
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. object — to protest
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. drill — army training
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. bat — for baseball

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