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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. mine — for digging
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. swing — in golf
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cold — an illness
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cold — not warm
  20. sharp — clever
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. calf — a young animal

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