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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. chair — a leader
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. wind — moving air
  9. root — the cause
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — an illness
  12. march — music
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. march — the month
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. root — of a word
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. march — the month
  22. root — of a plant
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cold — not warm

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