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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 120 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. bear — the animal
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. ground — a position
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pop — soda
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. pop — music
  15. bear — the animal
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. pop — to visit
  18. squash — the sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. squash — to crush
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. cold — an illness
  24. leaves — to go away

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