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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rush — hurry
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. shower — rain
  7. press — a publisher
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — to push
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. game — a match
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. shower — to wash
  20. game — wild animals
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fork — in a road
  24. wound — an injury

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