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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. craft — boats
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. can — a tin
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. craft — a skill
  13. can — to be able to
  14. object — an aim
  15. can — a tin
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — not warm
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. object — a thing
  24. cold — an illness

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