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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bound — certain
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bound — obliged
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cap — of ice
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bound — tied together
  14. cap — a lid
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. date — the fruit
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pit — a hole
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pit — in a race

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