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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. mate — a friend
  3. club — for dancing
  4. clip — for paper
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. season — of the year
  8. clip — a video
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — for golf
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. file — a tool
  15. clip — to cut
  16. file — a line of people
  17. club — a group
  18. mate — a partner
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. mate — to breed
  22. file — a document
  23. wind — moving air
  24. fan — a supporter

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