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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 · degree · saw · dip · swing · file · season · bark

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. season — of the year
  6. saw — the tool
  7. dip — to sink
  8. swing — music
  9. file — a document
  10. degree — temperature
  11. file — a tool
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bark — to shout
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. swing — in golf
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. season — in sport
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. saw — the tool

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