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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. hand — help
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. prune — to trim
  15. field — a subject
  16. hand — in cards
  17. tear — from crying
  18. field — farmland
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. field — for sport
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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