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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. land — to come down
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. land — a country
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. charge — electricity
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. charge — in control
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. charge — a price
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — an illness
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bat — the animal

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