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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spring — the season
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. spell — a short time
  6. capital — money
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. spell — letters
  11. scale — in music
  12. spring — of water
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. spell — magic
  15. drill — a practice
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. capital — a city
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. scale — size or range
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — a coil
  24. scale — for weighing

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