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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rest — what's left
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — a container
  5. ball — a great time
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bat — the animal
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bear — the animal
  16. game — a match
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. ball — a dance
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. shower — rain
  24. tube — the underground

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