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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. snap — to click
  3. rash — hasty
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. ball — a great time
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. rash — a series
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. cold — not warm
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. firm — decided
  17. ball — a dance
  18. firm — steady
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cold — an illness
  21. firm — a company
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. perch — the fish

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