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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bass — low music
  4. tube — a container
  5. kick — in football
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. hand — help
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bass — the fish
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wind — moving air
  22. content — happy
  23. game — wild animals
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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