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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. chest — of your body
  3. land — a country
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. land — ground
  7. mate — a friend
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. land — to come down
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rash — hasty
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. perch — the fish
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. chest — a box
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. mate — a partner
  20. rash — a series
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kid — child
  24. mate — to breed

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