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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bound — tied together
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bound — certain
  8. march — the month
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fall — to drop
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. march — music
  14. bound — obliged
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. hand — help
  17. march — the month
  18. fall — the season
  19. fork — in a road
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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