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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. charge — in control
  3. clip — for paper
  4. file — a tool
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. clip — to cut
  9. charge — electricity
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. charge — a price
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a document
  18. season — of the year
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. dip — to sink
  22. season — in sport
  23. clip — a video
  24. sharp — clever

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