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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. current — of water
  3. can — a tin
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — a practice
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. can — to be able to
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — the animal
  16. drill — the tool
  17. can — a tin
  18. current — electric
  19. drill — army training
  20. current — happening now
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cold — not warm
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. fan — a supporter

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