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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kid — child
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bound — tied together
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — help
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. bound — certain
  13. kid — to tease
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cell — a phone
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. cell — in biology

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