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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pass — a permit
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. mine — for digging
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — a subject
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mark — a trace
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mark — a grade
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. field — farmland
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. field — for sport
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — to cool the air

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