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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. saw — the tool
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rash — a series
  11. net — after costs
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. net — for catching
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rash — hasty
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. net — in sport
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — of the year
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bat — for baseball

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