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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. kid — child
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. shower — rain
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. branch — a division
  15. perch — the fish
  16. shower — to wash
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. kid — to tease
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. perch — for a bird

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