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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. file — a document
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. file — a tool
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. file — a line of people
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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