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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: fan · wound · ball · chip · scale · spell · file · bark

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chip — to eat
  5. ball — a great time
  6. scale — in music
  7. chip — for betting
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bark — to shout
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a document
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. spell — a short time
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spell — magic
  17. scale — size or range
  18. ball — a dance
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bark — of a tree

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