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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spring — of water
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cell — in biology
  7. spring — the season
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. can — to be able to
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. can — a tin
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. can — a tin
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rush — hurry

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