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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bank — of a river
  6. snap — to click
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bat — the animal
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bank — for money
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wound — an injury
  14. craft — a skill
  15. craft — boats
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. shower — rain
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — to tease
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bank — for money

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