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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. rash — hasty
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. lean — to bend
  9. rash — a series
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. snap — to click
  14. clip — for paper
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. lean — thin
  20. bulb — for light
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wound — an injury
  23. clip — a video
  24. rash — on the skin

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