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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rash — hasty
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. present — the time now
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cap — a lid
  15. present — a gift
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — in a race
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. present — there
  20. shower — rain
  21. cap — a hat
  22. rash — a series
  23. shower — to wash
  24. cap — of ice

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