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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. march — the month
  4. tube — the underground
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. file — a tool
  7. rock — music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. file — a document
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. march — music
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. march — the month
  16. rock — a stone
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. file — a line of people
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. tube — a container
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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