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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · file · shower · race · kid · fan · can · tear

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. shower — rain
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — child
  10. race — a contest
  11. tear — from crying
  12. can — to be able to
  13. can — a tin
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. race — humankind
  16. tear — to rip
  17. can — a tin
  18. race — the arms race
  19. kid — to tease
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. file — a line of people

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