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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. court — for sport
  3. rush — hurry
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. shower — rain
  6. snap — to click
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rule — government
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. rule — a law
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — a match
  18. shower — to wash
  19. game — wild animals
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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