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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. charge — a price
  5. charge — electricity
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. dip — to sink
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. charge — in control
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. pop — to visit
  24. wound — an injury

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