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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. craft — a skill
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — of a river
  10. field — a subject
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tear — from crying
  14. file — a line of people
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tear — from crying
  18. file — a document
  19. bank — for money
  20. craft — boats
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kick — in football
  24. field — farmland

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