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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rest — a break
  3. roll — a cake
  4. field — for sport
  5. rest — what's left
  6. hand — help
  7. suit — clothes
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. spell — letters
  10. suit — to fit
  11. roll — a list
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rest — what's left
  14. spell — a short time
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. spell — magic
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. field — farmland
  19. mine — for digging
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. hand — in cards
  22. field — a subject
  23. suit — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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