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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — temperature
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. drill — army training
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rash — hasty
  7. degree — an amount
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. bear — the animal
  10. drill — a practice
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. bear — the animal
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. snap — to click
  20. rash — a series
  21. drill — the tool
  22. degree — from a university
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bowl — a dish

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