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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. saw — the tool
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. land — a country
  7. fine — all right
  8. saw — the tool
  9. fine — high quality
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — a line
  12. chest — a box
  13. dip — to sink
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. land — to come down
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. march — the month
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. land — ground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — to paddle

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