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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — the earth
  4. land — a country
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bat — the animal
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. swing — to play on
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. shower — to wash
  19. land — to come down
  20. swing — in golf
  21. land — ground
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — rain
  24. swing — music

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