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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. wind — moving air
  11. root — of a plant
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fine — high quality
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a word
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rock — a stone
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fine — all right

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