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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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — a video
  3. dip — to sink
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chest — of your body
  6. court — for sport
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. ground — the earth
  12. court — of a king
  13. chest — a box
  14. lean — to bend
  15. ground — crushed
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. ground — a position
  18. court — of law
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. branch — a division
  23. lean — thin
  24. fan — to cool the air

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