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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cue — a hint
  6. field — for sport
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. rash — a series
  11. field — farmland
  12. rash — hasty
  13. swing — to play on
  14. field — a subject
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. cue — a signal
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spring — the season

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