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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. toast — bread
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cap — of ice
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. cap — a lid
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. club — a group
  18. shower — rain
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. club — for golf
  21. bat — the animal
  22. race — a contest
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. club — for dancing

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