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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cap — a lid
  3. field — farmland
  4. suit — clothes
  5. spring — of water
  6. file — a document
  7. suit — in cards
  8. spring — a coil
  9. field — for sport
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cap — a hat
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lean — thin
  14. cap — of ice
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. spring — the season
  17. suit — to fit
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. file — a tool
  21. kid — to tease
  22. field — a subject
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. kid — child

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