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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fall — to drop
  3. court — for sport
  4. present — there
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. capital — money
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. file — a line of people
  12. capital — a city
  13. file — a tool
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. present — a gift
  16. fall — to drop
  17. file — a document
  18. court — of law
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. court — of a king
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. present — the time now
  23. fall — the season
  24. coach — a trainer

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