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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spring — of water
  3. rest — what's left
  4. net — after costs
  5. spell — letters
  6. kid — to tease
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. net — for catching
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wax — to grow
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. rest — a break
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. kid — child
  18. net — in sport
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. spring — the season
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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