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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
468
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 · shower · mine · kid · wound · fork · lie · staff

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. lie — to recline
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. shower — to wash
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. staff — a stick
  10. wound — an injury
  11. staff — employees
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. staff — employees
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wound — an injury
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. shower — rain

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