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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 116 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: hand · mark · shower · bound · sharp · hide · fan · file

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. sharp — clever
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mark — a grade
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bound — tied together
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. shower — rain
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. file — a line of people
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bound — certain
  19. file — a tool
  20. mark — a trace
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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