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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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468
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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. court — of law
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. race — the arms race
  5. snap — to click
  6. prune — to trim
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cell — a phone
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. court — for sport
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bat — the animal
  18. race — a contest
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. race — humankind
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. court — of a king

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