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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: degree · file · leaves · fan · bound · spell · tear · march

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. march — the month
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bound — tied together
  9. degree — from a university
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — letters
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bound — obliged
  17. file — a tool
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. bound — certain

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