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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. root — of a word
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. spring — a coil
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cue — a hint
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cue — a signal
  15. date — the fruit
  16. root — the cause
  17. cue — for pool
  18. root — of a plant
  19. band — a ring
  20. spring — of water
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. band — a music group
  23. spring — the season
  24. mine — for digging

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