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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: file · roll · prune · kick · wind · fan · capital · plane

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. file — a tool
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wind — moving air
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. capital — money
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. roll — a list
  15. plane — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. prune — to trim
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. capital — a city
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. file — a document
  24. kick — in football

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