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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. degree — from a university
  4. land — a country
  5. lean — to bend
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. land — to come down
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lean — thin
  14. scale — size or range
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. degree — temperature
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a dance
  19. scale — in music
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — for digging
  23. land — ground
  24. lean — to rest against

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