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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 116 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — soda
  6. cell — in biology
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cell — a phone
  10. deal — to handle
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. stand — to bear
  14. squash — the sport
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. squash — to crush
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — music

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