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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rest — what's left
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spring — a coil
  7. field — farmland
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spring — the season
  11. rest — what's left
  12. field — for sport
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spring — of water
  15. saw — the tool
  16. field — a subject
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rest — a break
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. kid — child
  24. saw — the tool

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