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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 120 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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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: fork · snap · wind · fan · net · file · pound · content

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. net — after costs
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. snap — to click
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pound — a weight
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. content — happy
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. net — for catching
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. file — a document
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. net — in sport
  21. file — a tool
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. content — the amount
  24. file — a line of people

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