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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 120 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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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: shower · fan · last · wind · fork · pit · pass · present

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. present — a gift
  4. pit — a hole
  5. present — there
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. shower — rain
  8. fork — in a road
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pass — a permit
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. last — finally
  19. last — to go on
  20. wind — moving air
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. last — final
  23. present — the time now
  24. pit — in a race

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