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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — in biology
  4. date — the fruit
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. kid — to tease
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pitch — completely
  14. kid — child
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. track — a path
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. track — a song
  19. cell — a phone
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. track — to keep track
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pitch — a sports field

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