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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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Word bank
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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: lean · can · file · trunk · cold · fan · capital · mug

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cold — not warm
  5. file — a line of people
  6. can — a tin
  7. capital — money
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mug — a cup
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. lean — to bend
  12. can — to be able to
  13. lean — thin
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. file — a tool
  16. can — a tin
  17. cold — an illness
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. file — a document
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mug — a face

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