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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: file · fork · chair · fan · press · rest · hand · land

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. file — a document
  5. rest — what's left
  6. press — a publisher
  7. press — to push
  8. hand — in cards
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. chair — a leader
  11. land — to come down
  12. press — newspapers
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fork — in a road
  15. hand — help
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. land — ground
  24. land — a country

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