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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: season · fan · tear · file · arm · cell · dip · content

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. content — the amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. content — happy
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. cell — a phone
  14. tear — to rip
  15. file — a line of people
  16. dip — to sink
  17. file — a document
  18. season — of the year
  19. file — a tool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in biology

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