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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. hand — help
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — in football
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. suit — clothes
  12. hand — in cards
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. suit — in cards
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wind — moving air
  24. suit — to fit

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