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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 · lie · game · tear · wound · present · scale · track

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. tear — from crying
  6. track — a path
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. track — a song
  9. scale — size or range
  10. lie — to recline
  11. game — wild animals
  12. scale — in music
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — from crying
  16. present — a gift
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. present — the time now
  21. tear — to rip
  22. present — there
  23. track — to keep track
  24. game — a match

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