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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. kid — child
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. field — a subject
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. rock — music
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rock — a stone
  24. bat — the animal

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