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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. drill — the tool
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. face — to confront
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. face — to point toward
  9. craft — boats
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. craft — a skill
  12. club — for golf
  13. face — part of the head
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cold — an illness
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cold — not warm
  20. club — a group
  21. capital — a city
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. club — for dancing

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