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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fall — to drop
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fine — all right
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fall — to drop
  15. face — to confront
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fall — the season
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. fine — high quality
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. racket — a loud noise

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