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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. land — ground
  3. roll — a list
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. lean — thin
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. roll — a cake
  9. suit — clothes
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. suit — in cards
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — an illness
  16. game — wild animals
  17. land — a country
  18. suit — to fit
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. lean — to bend
  22. game — a match
  23. squash — to crush
  24. land — to come down

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