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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. row — a line
  3. tear — to rip
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a document
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. root — the cause
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. deal — to handle
  13. game — wild animals
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. game — a match
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. root — of a plant
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. root — of a word
  22. row — to paddle
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. deal — an agreement

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