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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cap — a lid
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. drill — the tool
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. wake — a trail
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. drill — army training
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cap — of ice
  19. squash — to crush
  20. prune — to trim
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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