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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 120 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. spell — letters
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — wild animals
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. perch — the fish
  11. fall — to drop
  12. row — a line
  13. fall — the season
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. fall — to drop
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. row — to paddle
  20. sharp — clever
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. game — a match

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