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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rash — a series
  4. land — ground
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. rash — hasty
  9. board — a committee
  10. hand — help
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. board — to get on
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bat — the animal
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. squash — to crush
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — to turn a key

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