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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. last — final
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. last — to go on
  7. land — to come down
  8. court — of a king
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. spring — of water
  12. land — a country
  13. foot — a measure
  14. court — for sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fall — the season
  17. last — finally
  18. court — of law
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. land — ground
  21. spring — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fan — a supporter

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