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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fork — in a road
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. content — happy
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. file — a document
  10. spell — magic
  11. content — the amount
  12. file — a tool
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bank — for money
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bank — of a river
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bank — for money
  21. bound — obliged
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — a short time
  24. fork — a garden tool

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