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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. season — in sport
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. season — of the year
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. game — a match
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — high quality
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — the animal
  23. march — the month
  24. game — wild animals

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