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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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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bass — low music
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. last — to go on
  12. saw — the tool
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — final
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. pit — in a race
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bass — the fish
  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