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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: present · shower · kid · file · fan · pitcher · wind · lash

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. file — a line of people
  4. shower — to wash
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. file — a tool
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. file — a document
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. present — a gift
  21. shower — rain
  22. kid — child
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. wind — moving air

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