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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. charge — a price
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fall — the season
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. fall — to drop
  15. charge — electricity
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. ball — a dance
  18. charge — in control
  19. fall — to drop
  20. ball — a great time
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cell — in biology
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. degree — temperature

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