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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ball — a dance
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. ball — a great time
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. fall — the season
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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