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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tear — to rip
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — goods
  8. bark — to shout
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — for betting
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. fall — to drop
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. fall — the season
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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