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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. season — of the year
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fall — the season
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. root — the cause
  10. stock — goods
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. file — a document
  16. root — of a plant
  17. season — in sport
  18. file — a line of people
  19. root — of a word
  20. stock — shares
  21. prune — to trim
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fall — to drop

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