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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. lean — thin
  3. capital — money
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. file — a line of people
  8. land — to come down
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. spell — magic
  11. lean — to bend
  12. spell — letters
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. capital — a city
  19. land — a country
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bear — the animal
  22. land — ground
  23. kid — child
  24. bear — the animal

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