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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rash — hasty
  5. spell — magic
  6. pass — a permit
  7. wind — moving air
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. spell — a short time
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. sharp — clever
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. press — newspapers
  23. spell — letters
  24. rash — a series

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