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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rule — government
  4. shower — rain
  5. rest — a break
  6. hand — help
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. file — a line of people
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rule — a law
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. vault — a safe
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rest — what's left
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wax — to grow
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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