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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. spell — letters
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. game — a match
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rush — hurry
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. chest — a box
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. mate — to breed
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mate — a partner
  19. game — wild animals
  20. spell — magic
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spell — a short time

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