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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. court — of law
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. press — newspapers
  11. court — for sport
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. mine — for digging
  14. press — to push
  15. court — of a king
  16. press — a publisher
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bark — to shout
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — an illness
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. cold — not warm

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