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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. season — of the year
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. game — wild animals
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. tear — from crying
  9. land — a country
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. chest — a box
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. land — to come down
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. game — a match
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wind — moving air
  20. land — ground
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. season — in sport
  24. wind — to turn a key

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