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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mine — for digging
  3. game — wild animals
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pop — music
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wax — to grow
  10. pop — to visit
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. swing — in golf
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pop — soda
  16. swing — music
  17. spell — a short time
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. game — a match
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — letters
  23. toast — bread
  24. mine — belonging to me

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