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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. kid — child
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. land — ground
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. kid — to tease
  14. mine — for digging
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. land — a country
  17. scale — in music
  18. deal — to handle
  19. land — to come down
  20. degree — temperature
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. degree — an amount
  23. scale — size or range
  24. degree — from a university

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