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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. march — the month
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. date — the fruit
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cold — not warm
  11. present — the time now
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. lean — thin
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. present — a gift
  23. lean — to bend
  24. cold — an illness

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