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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. swing — music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. present — the time now
  5. spring — a coil
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. mate — a partner
  8. spring — of water
  9. cold — an illness
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. swing — to play on
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. present — there
  17. spring — the season
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — to breed
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. snap — to click
  22. swing — in golf
  23. present — a gift
  24. calf — a young animal

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