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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. row — a line
  5. hand — help
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. suit — clothes
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. race — a contest
  10. suit — to fit
  11. date — the fruit
  12. kick — in football
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. suit — in cards
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. tear — from crying
  18. race — humankind
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. row — to paddle
  24. race — the arms race

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