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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.

Make a worksheet

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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pit — in a race
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. spell — magic
  16. degree — from a university
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. pit — a hole
  20. shower — rain
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. straw — a straw man

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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