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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. file — a line of people
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. file — a tool
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a music group
  17. file — a document
  18. wound — an injury

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