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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fall — to drop
  4. kid — to tease
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — music
  7. bear — the animal
  8. swing — to play on
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. kid — child
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fall — the season
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bear — the animal

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