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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. land — to come down
  5. saw — the tool
  6. squash — the sport
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — ground
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. key — for a lock
  11. scale — size or range
  12. net — in sport
  13. scale — in music
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. saw — the tool
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. key — the most important part
  21. land — a country
  22. net — for catching
  23. key — in music
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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