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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. shower — rain
  5. snap — to click
  6. tear — from crying
  7. file — a document
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. club — for dancing
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. tear — to rip
  19. club — for golf
  20. present — a gift
  21. tear — from crying
  22. shower — to wash
  23. club — a group
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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