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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. hand — help
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. charge — in control
  8. mine — for digging
  9. rule — government
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rule — a law
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. charge — electricity
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — an illness
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. game — a match
  21. perch — the fish
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. charge — a price
  24. rule — to rule out

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