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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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. club — for dancing
  4. wind — moving air
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. file — a document
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. club — for golf
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. club — a group
  15. bark — to shout
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a line of people
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — to paddle
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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