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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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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — temperature
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fall — to drop
  7. degree — an amount
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. hand — in cards
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — a practice
  16. content — happy
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. fall — to drop
  20. degree — from a university
  21. fall — the season
  22. saw — the tool
  23. hand — help
  24. content — the amount

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