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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. drill — army training
  8. bear — the animal
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. present — a gift
  13. drill — a practice
  14. wax — to grow
  15. net — in sport
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — not warm
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bear — the animal
  21. present — there
  22. net — after costs
  23. present — the time now
  24. net — for catching

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