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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rest — a break
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. cap — a hat
  12. court — of a king
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cap — a lid
  15. rest — what's left
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. chest — a box
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. cap — of ice

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