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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. foot — a measure
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. ground — crushed
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. mine — for digging
  8. snap — to click
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. key — in music
  16. ground — a position
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. shower — rain
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ground — the earth

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