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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. toast — bread
  4. mug — to rob
  5. face — to confront
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. land — to come down
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. face — to point toward
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mug — a face
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. chair — a leader
  17. land — ground
  18. saw — the tool
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mug — a cup
  21. land — a country
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chair — a professorship

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