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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rest — a break
  4. key — for a lock
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. key — in music
  9. field — a subject
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. clip — a video
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — for sport
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — for paper
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rest — what's left
  22. field — farmland
  23. key — the most important part
  24. racket — a loud noise

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