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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. degree — from a university
  7. clip — a video
  8. fall — the season
  9. fine — all right
  10. clip — for paper
  11. snap — to click
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fine — high quality
  23. stock — goods
  24. fine — a penalty

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