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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bore — to tire
  4. clip — to cut
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. capital — a city
  7. rest — a break
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. land — ground
  12. row — a line
  13. rest — what's left
  14. land — to come down
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. row — to paddle
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. capital — money
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rest — what's left
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. clip — a video
  23. bore — to drill
  24. land — a country

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