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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. band — a music group
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cell — a phone
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. spring — the season
  8. content — the amount
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a ring
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — to sink
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. cell — in biology
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. spring — of water
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. content — happy
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cell — in a prison

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