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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rest — what's left
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. rest — a break
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. clip — to cut
  11. band — a music group
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. squash — the sport
  18. band — a ring
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. rest — what's left
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. clip — a video

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