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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 124 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spell — magic
  3. fall — to drop
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. spell — a short time
  8. stock — goods
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fall — the season
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — happy
  14. swing — in golf
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. content — the amount
  19. spell — letters
  20. swing — to play on
  21. stock — shares
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. swing — music
  24. wound — an injury

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