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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. march — the month
  3. file — a line of people
  4. net — for catching
  5. plane — a tool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. file — a document
  9. march — music
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. kid — child
  16. march — the month
  17. kid — to tease
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. net — in sport
  21. lie — to recline
  22. file — a tool
  23. net — after costs
  24. lie — an untruth

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