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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 116 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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. rash — hasty
  7. squash — to crush
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mark — a trace
  19. rash — a series
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. mark — a grade
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. squash — the sport
  24. file — a document

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