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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. file — a tool
  3. foot — a measure
  4. craft — boats
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. capital — money
  7. file — a line of people
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. capital — a city
  13. file — a document
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. row — to paddle
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. craft — a skill
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. row — a line

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