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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. land — to come down
  6. lean — to bend
  7. root — of a word
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. lean — thin
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a hat
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. pitch — completely
  17. root — the cause
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. cap — a lid
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wax — to grow
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. lean — to rest against

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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