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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. season — of the year
  6. face — part of the head
  7. toast — bread
  8. file — a document
  9. court — of law
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. face — to confront
  12. file — a line of people
  13. court — for sport
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. file — a tool
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. court — of a king
  20. mine — for digging
  21. face — to point toward
  22. season — in sport
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

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