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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wax — to grow
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. sharp — clever
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. object — a thing
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. stem — to come from
  21. chest — of your body
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. wax — in the ear

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