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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 116 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. press — newspapers
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. press — to push
  9. bass — the fish
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bass — low music
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. cell — a phone
  22. press — a publisher
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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