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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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. trunk — of a car
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. wound — an injury
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. saw — the tool
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. fine — all right
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wound — an injury
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fine — high quality
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. file — a tool
  20. land — to come down
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. file — a document
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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