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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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 — a supporter
  2. cell — a phone
  3. court — of law
  4. fall — to drop
  5. object — to protest
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. spring — a coil
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fall — the season
  14. spring — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. object — an aim
  17. cell — in biology
  18. board — to get on
  19. object — a thing
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. board — a committee
  23. spring — of water
  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