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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. board — to get on
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. ground — crushed
  8. clip — to cut
  9. ground — a position
  10. clip — for paper
  11. shower — rain
  12. stock — shares
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. land — to come down
  15. stock — goods
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. clip — a video
  18. board — a committee
  19. shower — to wash
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. lean — thin
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. land — a country
  24. ground — the earth

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