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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. land — ground
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bass — the fish
  5. squash — the sport
  6. rest — what's left
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bass — low music
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — to crush
  11. land — a country
  12. rest — what's left
  13. land — to come down
  14. chest — a box
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. rest — a break
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. mine — an explosive

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