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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pound — a weight
  3. file — a document
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. perch — the fish
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. snap — to click
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fork — in a road
  24. chest — of your body

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