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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: wound · cap · sharp · fan · board · bulb · file · spell

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. sharp — clever
  5. board — a committee
  6. spell — letters
  7. cap — a lid
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. file — a tool
  12. cap — a hat
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. spell — magic
  15. cap — of ice
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bulb — for light
  18. file — a document
  19. board — to get on
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spell — a short time
  24. board — a flat piece

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