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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 120 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. land — to come down
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kick — in football
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. row — a line
  9. mine — for digging
  10. land — a country
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. chest — a box
  15. row — to paddle
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. craft — a skill
  22. land — ground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. craft — boats

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