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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rule — a law
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cold — not warm
  7. shower — to wash
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. net — for catching
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. net — after costs
  15. craft — a skill
  16. rule — government
  17. craft — boats
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. net — in sport
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. shower — rain

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