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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — letters
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. spell — magic
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. file — a line of people
  18. branch — a division
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a tool
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. shower — rain

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