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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: nail · fan · hand · date · file · content · march · kick

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. file — a document
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. content — happy
  8. file — a tool
  9. march — the month
  10. content — the amount
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. hand — help
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. file — a line of people
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kick — a thrill

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