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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. rash — a series
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chest — a box
  11. bear — the animal
  12. chest — of your body
  13. field — farmland
  14. rash — hasty
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — of your body
  21. lean — to bend
  22. bear — the animal
  23. lean — thin
  24. chip — for betting

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