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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. fall — to drop
  4. file — a line of people
  5. track — to keep track
  6. degree — from a university
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. hand — in cards
  9. track — a path
  10. hand — help
  11. track — a song
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. degree — an amount
  14. fall — the season
  15. file — a tool
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. fall — to drop
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. degree — temperature
  21. file — a document
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. fan — a supporter

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