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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 120 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's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. shower — to wash
  3. band — a music group
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. root — the cause
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. ball — a great time
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. can — a tin
  13. shower — rain
  14. wake — a trail
  15. root — of a word
  16. ball — a dance
  17. band — a ring
  18. root — of a plant
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — to be able to

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