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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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Word bank
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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rash — a series
  6. hand — in cards
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. swing — music
  9. mine — for digging
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. charge — a price
  13. charge — in control
  14. kid — child
  15. rash — hasty
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. charge — electricity
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. swing — in golf
  22. hand — help
  23. swing — to play on
  24. mine — belonging to me

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