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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: bat · mine · suit · fan · file · wake · track · tear

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. track — a path
  5. bat — the animal
  6. track — a song
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. tear — to rip
  10. track — to keep track
  11. file — a document
  12. suit — to fit
  13. suit — in cards
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. file — a tool
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. tear — from crying
  20. suit — clothes
  21. wake — a trail
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fan — to cool the 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