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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. object — a thing
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. hand — in cards
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. date — the fruit
  8. object — to protest
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. scale — in music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. object — an aim
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. saw — the tool
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. tear — to rip
  20. row — a line
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. row — to paddle
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hand — help

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