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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rock — music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. swing — music
  5. last — final
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — to tire
  9. charge — electricity
  10. land — a country
  11. charge — a price
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. last — finally
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. swing — to play on
  16. land — to come down
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. degree — from a university
  19. swing — in golf
  20. degree — temperature
  21. charge — in control
  22. last — to go on
  23. land — ground
  24. rock — a stone

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