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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — of the year
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. game — wild animals
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. season — in sport
  16. kid — child
  17. file — a line of people
  18. stand — to bear
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — an illness
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. fan — to cool the air

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