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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. rest — what's left
  4. deal — to handle
  5. bat — the animal
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wind — moving air
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spring — the season
  19. sharp — clever
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. spring — of water
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bat — in an idiom

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