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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: fan · bay · file · roll · fork · track · kid · last

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. kid — to tease
  4. roll — a cake
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. last — finally
  7. file — a line of people
  8. fork — in a road
  9. last — final
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. track — a path
  12. roll — a list
  13. file — a document
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. track — to keep track
  16. kid — child
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. file — a tool
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. track — a song
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. last — to go on
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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