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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 116 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. land — a country
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. land — to come down
  8. shower — to wash
  9. land — ground
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. club — a group
  14. kick — in football
  15. fall — the season
  16. shower — rain
  17. wax — to grow
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. game — a match
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wax — in the ear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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