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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rest — a break
  3. rule — a law
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. rule — government
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. fine — all right
  9. spring — the season
  10. rest — what's left
  11. clip — for paper
  12. degree — temperature
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. spring — of water
  16. fine — high quality
  17. clip — a video
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. spring — a coil
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rest — what's left

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