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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. staff — employees
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. vault — a safe
  7. season — in sport
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. drill — the tool
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. drill — army training
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. drill — a practice
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. season — of the year
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. staff — employees
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. staff — a stick

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