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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  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 — a supporter
  2. file — a tool
  3. ground — crushed
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a document
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. degree — temperature
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — the animal
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lie — to recline
  14. ground — a position
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. lie — an untruth
  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