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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 120 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spring — of water
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — a series
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. pitch — completely
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rash — hasty
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tear — from crying
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — in football

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