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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. snap — to click
  3. mine — for digging
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rest — what's left
  8. club — for dancing
  9. capital — money
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. pass — a permit
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. club — a group
  16. capital — a city
  17. club — for golf
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mine — belonging to me

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