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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 120 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. face — part of the head
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cap — of ice
  6. tear — to rip
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. spring — a coil
  10. face — to confront
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. season — of the year
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. degree — an amount
  16. season — in sport
  17. degree — from a university
  18. tear — from crying
  19. saw — the tool
  20. spring — of water
  21. cap — a lid
  22. spring — the season
  23. cap — a hat
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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