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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: wake · fan · spell · sharp · hand · shower · fork · land

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. fork — to eat with
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spell — letters
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. hand — in cards
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wake — a trail
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. land — ground
  17. fork — in a road
  18. land — a country
  19. shower — rain
  20. land — to come down
  21. spell — magic
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. hand — help
  24. fan — to cool the air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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