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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. craft — boats
  6. fall — to drop
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. fall — the season
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. swing — in golf
  16. fall — to drop
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. craft — a skill
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. swing — music
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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