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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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. track — a path
  8. wound — an injury
  9. degree — an amount
  10. capital — money
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. foot — a measure
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — of the year
  15. degree — from a university
  16. track — a song
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. degree — temperature
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. capital — a city
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. track — to keep track

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